The old hands are going to make a difference this time, says Kumara Sangakkara. He has recently gone on record pitting Jayasuriya, Tendulkar and Lara as the three batsmen to watch out for. Prophetic as these words may turn out, one can’t help but feel that the list he has is too small. There are far too many players who will be “looking to go down in a blaze of glory” as he put it!

For one, there is Saurav Ganguly, revitalised and with newfound confidence after winning the man-of-the-series award in the recent series against Sri Lanka. Then there’s Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq who despite all the pressure on him and his recent run of poor form can make a big difference in all the matches he plays. Rahul Dravid of India may be an underrated ODI player, but the man has over 10,000 runs to his credit in the shorter form of the game.

Then there’s Shivnarine Chanderpaul who would also in all probability retire after the World Cup. Adam Gilchrist is in the same mode as is Matthew Hayden. This tournament could well prove to be Stephen Fleming’s swansong! Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher will certainly not play in India in 2011. And then there are the bowlers…

Anil Kumble recently announced his intention of retiring from one-day cricket. His replacement issue apart, India needs to find another quality leg-spinner first! Glenn McGrath will be seen on the international stage for the last time over the next two months and it could well be the end of the road for Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shaun Pollock.

What Sangakkara has said is that the three gentlemen he is referring to are legends and each would want to say their goodbyes to World Cup cricket with the winners’ trophy for company. Jayasuriya has experienced this once, Tendulkar was oh-so-close last time around but Lara has never been close enough. But this time, all three have a chance and it will be absolutely riveting to watch the three (and the others on the list) have a go in their last chance.

The list is big, the names bigger and the games promise much. Let’s hope the pitches are good and the weather stays fair. Then these gentlemen can really show the world a thing or two about playing cricket!