When Mahela took over from Marvan as captain and Sangakkara was his deputy, the pair were determined to infuse youth into the side and show the door to the seniors. Mahela was only handed captaincy because Marvan was injured but after Marvan recovered he found it tough to even get a game. Remember the 2007 World Cup?

Sri Lanka lost the final of the ICC World Twenty20 last Sunday, and it was a massive disappointment to thousands of Sri Lankan fans.

Brian Thomas, who was Sri Lanka Cricket's media manager from 2009 until his contract was not renewed earlier this year, has written an article on The Island paper today which I highly recommend everyone read.

I won't ruin it for you. Watch the video. It's hilarious!

Prior to the first Test against Pakistan at Galle this week, Tillakaratne Dilshan had been in woeful form. Along with his inexperienced partner at the other end, Sri Lanka's openers were often exposing their middle order to the new ball over the last 12 months, which resulted in them being blown away for less than 250 more often than not.

This was posted on Roshan's Twitter.

Kumar Sangakkara talks about his his unbeaten century (161) v Pakistan, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi, 21 October 2011.

Audio courtesy of Osman Samiuddin. Please follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/OsmanSamiuddin

When your captain urges patience before a tour, it is a sign that all is not well. That's the message Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan had for supporters, the media and presumably also the selectors before leaving for the UAE.

Unless an absolute miracle transpires, when we go out to bat during our second innings, Sri Lanka are all set to lose the first Test against Australia at Galle. It seems inevitable given our batsmen's recent record.

It has become quite fashionable these days to pin everything on the all powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). But let's face it; the failure of the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL), which has been postponed less than two weeks before the start of the T20 tournament, was destined to fail.

I laughed so hard when David 'Bumble' Lloyd brought up Suraj Randiv's Test stats to claim that he was an 'ordinary bowler', after the English team's collapse, chasing Sri Lanka's 309/5 in the second One-Dayer.

What Lloyd forgot to mention was that Randiv has only played three Test matches, but that didn’t stop him from referring to him as an ordinary bowler, by pointing to his Test average of 40.50.

Not being able to replace the mediocre Trevor Bayliss with a highly sought after and skilled coach portrays the steady demise of our cricket, under the hands of this government appointed administration. The lavish spending and the frequent overseas travel of some SLC officials has denied our cricketers the best in the business. You have a right to be outraged!

Sri Lanka’s strategy in this World Cup campaign was certainly different. Since 1996, they have been admired for the attacking brand of cricket their batsmen played at the start of the innings and that appears to now have been lost.

Of late, Sri Lanka has not had an opening batsman with a license to score freely, without the burden of personal milestones or consistency.

With the end of Sanath Jayasuriya’s reign at the top of the order, Sri Lanka has relied on Tillakaratne Dilshan to take on that role but much has changed since Jayasuriya’s hayday and today what is required of Dilshan does not allow him the state of mind required to take risks and attack the opposition’s bowlers right from the start.

It hasn't really dawned on many in Sri Lanka that Kumar Sangakkara's first World Cup as captain could be his last. The tenth edition of the World Cup may well be the last World Cup for many others in the Sri Lankan camp as well.

It would take a very brave man to still consider Sri Lanka as favourites to win the tournament after their defeat against Pakistan on Saturday in the ICC Cricket World Cup Group A match played at Khettarama.

The scorecard may fool you; make no mistake, the only reason the match got as close as the last over and 11 runs was thanks to shambolic Pakistan, who missed stumping chances, run outs and catches - not because it was a closely fought contest.