SLSri Lanka

Country history

Sri Lanka was granted full Test status on 21 July 1981, becoming the eighth Test-playing nation, and played its inaugural Test in February 1982 against England in Colombo, losing by seven wickets. Nicknamed the "Lions," the side spent its first fifteen years as a competitive but largely underestimated force before its transformative moment: the 1996 World Cup, won under the shrewd, combative captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga, whose team pioneered an aggressive style of opening-overs batting through Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana that reshaped one-day cricket strategy worldwide.

That title, secured by beating Australia in the final in Lahore, coincided with the emergence of Muttiah Muralitharan, who went on to take more Test and ODI wickets than any bowler in history despite a bowling action that drew persistent, controversial scrutiny during his career. Sri Lanka's golden generation, also featuring Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, reached further major finals without repeating 1996's success, losing the 2007 and 2011 ODI World Cup finals (to Australia and India respectively) and the 2009 and 2012 T20 World Cup finals, before finally winning the T20 World Cup in 2014, beating India in Dhaka.

Sri Lanka also shared the 2002 Champions Trophy with India after rain washed out the final, and set the world record for the highest Test innings total, 952 for 6 declared against India in 1997. Despite periods of administrative instability and a talent transition since the retirement of its golden generation, Sri Lanka remains one of the sport's most watchable and historically significant sides.

Sources

• Wikipedia
• ESPNcricinfo

ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Winners won (1)

• 1996

Runner-up finishes (2)

• 2007
• 2011

See the full icc men's cricket world cup winners list for the winner each of these years.