Sri Lanka vs India World T20 title showdown: Malinga's revenge vs Kohli's blade

It might be the swansong for Sri Lanka cricket greats Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara in the shortest format of the game but they cannot expect any favours from the Indian juggernaut led by MS Dhoni in the World Twenty20 final.

Sri Lankans are desperately yearning to see their cricketers break the jinx of falling at the post after reaching the final in four previous attempts at being crowned world champions again.

Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar achieved his dream of winning a World Cup shortly before his retirement as India triumphed in the 50-over event in 2011.

This was at the expense of Sangakkara-led Sri Lanka who was denied glory in the Mumbai final despite Jayawardene scoring a century.

Sri Lankans are still smarting from this defeat and hope their cricketers would exact revenge on Super Sunday in Dhaka.

It has been many moons ago while new generations of cricketers have been born since Arjuna Ranatunga led Sri Lanka to its maiden World Cup triumph in 1996.

Just last month, Sri Lankans were reminded of the fact that they last won a major trophy 18 years ago.

Unlike Dhoni who has never looked back since leading India to its maiden World Twenty20 title in 2007, Sri Lanka has endured the agony of seeing many a slip between the cup and lip.

They were blown away by Adam Gilchrist's century with the aid of a squash ball in 2007 in the Caribbean.

Despite beating Pakistan in the group match, Sri Lanka lost to them in the World T20 final in 2009 at Lord's.

With all going for them in the final against West Indies on home soil in 2012 despite a belligerent knock from Marlon Samuels (78), Sri Lanka panicked at the threat of rain which never poured to collapse dramatically triggered by the dismissal of Jayawardene playing a reverse sweep.

So not surprisingly, Sri Lanka has taken over the dubious mantle of 'chokers' from South Africa.

Sri Lanka has had a relatively easy passage into the finals in comparison to unbeaten India who beat Pakistan, West Indies, Australia and Bangladesh emphatically in the group stage.

England's Alex Hales proved there was a chink in Sri Lanka's arsenal by blasting only the second century of the tournament.

Sri Lanka reached Sunday's final with a 27-run win over defending champions West Indies through the Duckworth-Lewis calculations in a rain-hit semifinal on Thursday.

India rode on a brilliant unbeaten half century from Virat Kohli (72) to chase down South Africa's challenging 172-4, making the prolific right-hander the tournament's leading scorer with 242 runs from five games.

Kohli has been the scourge of Sri Lanka and Lasith Malinga in particular in the recent past.

Whenever Kohli has fired, most often than not, India has emerged victorious.

He has no respect for reputations with even the world's fastest bowler Dale Steyn being at his mercy during the semifinals.

Malinga also seems to be fired up this time around despite having the added responsibility of captaining the team after regular skipper Dinesh Chandimal opted out.

He wants to do it for retiring greats Sangakkara and Jayawardene.

Malinga, who once turned his back on the country but chose to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League, has another shot at redemption and silencing his critics.

It is a fact that the Mumbai Indians star has come up lame against India in past encounters.

However, Malinga took 5 for 56 in the Asia Cup final against at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

The signs are ominous for both Kohli and Malinga.

They are the leading knights with shining armour.

Kohli has done it before for India who are seeking a limited overs treble, having also won the Champions Trophy last year.

Malinga carries the hopes of nation who are looking for a lion-hearted performance from its team.

Rest assured Malinga will go into folklore as a real hero if Sri Lanka does cross the final hurdle, although nothing can take away from the romance of Ranatunga lifting the World Cup after battling against all odds in 1996.

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