On Wednesday, Sri Lanka sacked veteran seamer Lasith Malinga as the captain to make test-specialist Karunaratne as the skipper for the showpiece event. The left-handed batsman had recently led Sri Lanka to a Test series in South Africa.
While opener Lahiru Thirimanne, spin-bowling allrounders Milinda Siriwardana and Jeevan Mendis have made the cut, some big names like Niroshan Dickwella, Akila Dananjaya, Danushka Gunathilaka and Upul Tharanga have failed failed to make it to the squad.
The Sri Lankan board has sprung up some surprises by including 21-year-old opening batsman Avishka Fernando and pacer Nuwan Pradeep, a player who hasn't been in the mix in their ODI setup of late but has been chosen for the showpiece event.
The assessment of the final 15 was made after observing the performance of some of the players in the week-long Super Four Provincial Tournament played at the start of April. Lasith Malinga, the then Sri Lanka captain, had to do constant ups and downs between Mumbai and Sri Lanka due to his participation in the IPL during the domestic tournament.
Jeevan Mendis seems to have booked his place in the World Cup roster after taking 6 wickets in three matches during while also scoring a half-century. Thirimanne, meanwhile, finished the tournament as the second-highest scorer behind Angelo Mathews. Vandersay is another player who made the cut courtesy his 5-wicket-haul.
Here is a look at Sri Lanka 15-member World Cup Squad:
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Avishka Fernando, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Jeffery Vandersay, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Jeevan Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana