T20 World Cup: Whether Rishabh Pant plays or not, Dinesh Karthik should be in India playing XI, says Shaminda Eranga

The road to the main draw of the ongoing T20 World Cup though is a slightly more arduous one for the Lankans. They couldn't qualify directly for the Super 12 stage and are having to play the First Round, which is essentially a qualifier round to determine which four teams will join the top 8 who have directly qualified for the main draw. The Emerald Islanders though were in for a rude shock in their opening Round 1 match, where minnows Namibia stunned the Dasun Shanaka-led team by 55-runs. The Lankans were bowled out for just 108, chasing a not very challenging 164. The Lankans play UAE on Tuesday and then the Netherlands on Thursday in their next two Round 1 clashes as they eye a Super 12 berth.

Can they still make a comeback and put their campaign back on track? Interestingly, Sri Lanka hold the record for the most number of final appearances at the T20 World Cup, with three (2009, 2012 & 2014). They won the title in 2014, beating India in the final in Dhaka. Shaminda Eranga, a brisk fast-medium bowler, who played 19 Tests, 19 ODIs, and 3 T20Is for Sri Lanka between 2011 and 2016 before his career ended due to a nerve-related back injury, spoke exclusively with TimesofIndia.com, before the 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup officially began, and spoke about Sri Lanka's World Cup title chances this time, India chasing their first T20 World Cup title since 2007, who he thinks India's key players in the mega tournament this time will be and much more. Eranga, who now plays club cricket in Australia, made headlines when he took a wicket off the first ball he bowled on Test debut vs Australia at Colombo in 2011. With this he became, at that time, the 15th bowler in the history of Test cricket to take a wicket with his