RE: ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 News, Updates and Results
Mathews confident after X-factor Malinga's return
Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka's captain, has
backed his 'X-factor' Lasith Malinga to
come good in the 2015 ICC World Cup even
though the bowler himself has admitted to
feeling pain when he bowls in the nets.
Ahead of Sri Lanka's warm-up game
against South Africa at Hagley Oval on
Monday, Mathews rued the loss of pace
bowler Dhammika Prasad with a fractured
hand sustained during training on Saturday
but was confident in having Malinga up
and running come February 14 when Sri
Lanka face hosts New Zealand.
"It's a big blow, unfortunate news," he
said, "but Malinga coming back is a great
advantage for us. Lasith is an X-factor.
We all know he's a great death bowler and
swings it with the new ball as well. He's
got so many variations under his sleeve.
It's a great plus point to have him in the
team, he's our premier fast bowler. With
the amount of experience he has, almost
200 games now, performing exceptionally
well for us over the past five or six years,
to have him back in is great news."
Malinga, 32, has not played an ODI since
August after undergoing surgery on his left
ankle but Mathews was confident of him
being ready for the team's first match.
"He's progressed really well and he's back
to his full fitness, it's just the match
practice that he needs," he said. "He's
bowling at 100 per cent, so we hope he'll
be 100 per cent fit for the games."
"Probably, but you can't write off the rest
of the bowlers that we have," said
Mathews when asked whether the
scoreline against New Zealand could have
ended differently had Malinga featured in
the seven-ODI series. "We've got fairly
experienced bowlers, you can't write them
off. In a one-off game, the others can
also come to the party. We all expect
Lasith to do well, but I'm pretty sure with
the amount of talent we've got in our side,
we know anyone can do the job for us."
As for Sri Lanka's chances at the 2015
edition, after ending up losing finalists in
the previous two tournaments, Mathews
said: "We're happy to walk into the World
Cup as underdogs, no one really expects
us to win. We've got loads of experience,
we've got Mahela [Jayawardene] who's
playing his fifth World Cup. We've got
Kumar [Sangakkara], [Tillakaratne] Dilshan,
Lasith, [Nuwan] Kulasekera have played
World Cups before. That adds a lot to the
team; that experience on the big stage
definitely helps."
http://m.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/69890/mathews-confident-after-x-factor-malingas-return
& i hope this time india will win the world cup 
huh
