Cricket World Cup: 4 interesting coincidences in the history of the competition

#3 Marvan Atapattu- Did not play a single game in 1996 as well as 2007 World Cup:

Marvan Atapattu did not feature in a single game in 1996 and 2007 World Cup

Marvan Atapattu did not feature in the playing XI in both the 1996 and 2007 World Cup despite being a part of the squad. While he was a rookie in the 1996 World Cup, indifferent form led to him not getting a chance in 2007.

It is interesting to note that Sri Lanka reached the finals of both those tournaments. The former Sri Lankan skipper is the only cricketer to miss out in the playing XI in two World Cup finals despite being a part of the traveling party.

While Sri Lanka triumphed in the 1996 World Cup by beating Australia at Lahore, Australia got the better of the Sri Lankan team in the 2007 World Cup final at Barbados.

It is really disappointing that a player of the stature of Marvan Atapattu who represented Sri Lanka in 268 ODIs and averaged 37.57 in 259 innings and scored 8529 runs with 13 centuries and 59 half-centuries to his name could not feature in a single game in two different World Cups.