Sri Lanka's young brigade has made a great impression on STAR Cricket pundit Ian Chappell in the Asia Cup.

By Eugene YS Han (assistant editor - espnstar.com)

The defending champions are through to the STAR Cricket Asia Cup final after registering emphatic wins over Pakistan and Bangladesh. Chappell reckons Sri Lanka’s new generation of players has made the difference.

“I thought the good thing from the win over Pakistan was the contributions from the young guys,” said the Australia legend.

“This was the failings of Sri Lanka recently. They always had the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara making runs; Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas taking wickets. They have relied too heavily on these guys.”

Sri Lanka have relied a lot on these veteran players who have made a name for themselves. Now there’s a new breed of Sri Lankans who are poised to take over.

“We are starting to see the contributions from the younger fellows in this tournament,” said Chappell.

So just which Sri Lankan young guns have caught the Australian Cricket Hall of Famer's eye?

“Ajanta Mendis, I like the look of him. Nuwan Kulasekara is a good honest toiler with the ball. Thilan Thushara has added something to the line-up too. Sri Lanka have struggled to have someone hitting sixers in the last few overs and he looks like he might be able to do a bit of that.”

“I think they might be able to get a combination together.”