KOLKATA: Defending champions Sri Lanka will start their ICC World Twenty20 campaing against qualifier Afghanistan in the Super10 Group 1 play at Eden Gardens tomorrow. Winners of the last edition in Dhaka, Sri Lanka had come good to prevail over India by six wickets in the final, but since then the side was not performing as expected. The Angelo Mathews side in the warm up play against Pakistan on Monday here conceded defeat. They now needed to recover well before they face the main contenders in the group. After taking over the charge from Lathis Malinga, Angelo Mathews was yet to regain his form. But cricket pundits predicted that Sri Lanka would bounce back in the tournament to winning ways. Lanka have some worry also since their strike bowler Malinga was not cent per cent fit for a big game like world cup t20. The Lasith Malinga factor could be the key. They played two warm-up games against New Zealand and Pakistan, losing both the ties. Sri Lanka have a lot of work to repair before taking big opponents in the group. Afghanistan, on the other hand, are in a good form, having qualified from their group after beating Scotland, Zimbabwe and Hong Kong.Afghanistan have benefited from the presence of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Manoj Prabhakar in their coaching staff. They have played to a plan and have really impressed so far. Considering their performance in the final qualifying match against Zimbabwe, their batting was quite brilliant with Mohammad Shahzad, Samiullah Shenwari and Mohammad Nabi. While in their bowling, it was the rookie Rashid Khan, who claimed three wickets for 11, thus almost cementing his place in the side. Squads: Sri Lanka: Dushmantha Chameera, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), TillakaratneDilshan, Rangana Herath, Shehan Jayasuriya, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews (c),Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake, Dasun Shanaka, MilindaSiriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne. Afghanistan: Asghar Stanikzai (c), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor AliZadran, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, ShafiqullahShafiq, Samiullah Shenwari, Dawlat Zadran, Rashid Khan, Amir Hamza,Karim Sadiq, Shapoor Zadran, Mirwais Ashraf, Hamid Hassan.. (AGENCIES)
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