On Friday, Ranatunga, during his knock of 66, walked off the field with a pulled hamstring injury. He then took a decision to skip the third match of the championship against Pakistan at Lahore.

On Sunday, de Silva, who led the team in Ranatunga's absence and bowled an unchanged spell of 18.2 overs, before he retired owing to groin injury.In fact, when the team was first announced, de Silva was named as captain. But when he too was rendered hors de combat, the selectors named Hashan Tillekeratne as the skipper. Chaminda Vaas has also been rested. ``The World Cup is more importantfor us than other tournaments,'' said Ranatunga.

The team: Hashan Tillekeratne (capt), Mahela Jayawardane (vice capt), Maravan Atapattu, Russel Arnold, Avishka Gunawardena, C Hathurasinghe, Suresh Perera, Pramodaya Wickramasinghe, Ruchera Perera, Ruwan Kalpage, W Bandaratilke, Upul Chandana, Romesh Kaluwitharana and Sajeeva de Silva.