“It is very important for us to win this series. As I keep saying ‘winning’ is good habit to have and in addition we have the Champions Trophy coming up after this set of matches. Thus a victory would give us an added impetus,” said Captain of the Sri Lankan team Mahela Jayewardene ahead of the five match one day series against India which begins tomorrow at the Rangiri Stadium in Dambulla.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Jayewardene added; “Our form was not very good in the one day arena prior to the Asia Cup. That was the turning point for us and we certainly want to keep the momentum going.”

As is already known Sri Lanka beat India in the Asia Cup and then followed it up with a test series triumph, but Jayewardene is not taking anything for granted. He said; “One day matches are literally a completely different ball game. Most of the guys in the Indian team are familiar to us as we played against them in the Asia Cup. They have a very good all round side and so do we.”

All rounder Farveez Maharoof has been ruled out of the Sri Lankan team due to injury. When asked about his absence, Jayawardena said; “Maharoof is an integral part of our side and his absence upsets the balance of the team somewhat. He has been bowling in the nets and depending on the situation we may use him in the final two one day matches. The problem is that he had side strain and that is an injury that reoccurs on a regular basis. And obviously with the Champions Trophy coming up we need him firing on all cylinders. We do have two really good spinners in Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis. Chaminda Vaas is also there and we would have to assess the conditions. Then we will decide on either 6 -5 or 7-4 combination. Both strategies have worked well for us. So I do not see any reason to change it.”

Many pundits feel that Sri Lanka’s biggest weak point is the batsmen in the middle order. Thus it would seem that there is added pressure on Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillekeratne Dilshan and of course Jayewardene himself. When we posed this question to Jayewardene he said; “The answer is both yes and no. Yes, as senior we have to take on the responsibility of scoring the bulk of the runs. We are the guys with experience so it is up to us to perform in the middle. When we do that the guys who bat at numbers five, six and seven have to face only a few overs if any. And that why I said no. Also the young guys who have come in to the team in the last two to three years have done well for us Both Chamara Silva and Chamara Kapugedera have performed in crunch situations. They just need more time in the middle and the best way they can get more confidence is playing on home turf.”

Out of the Indian batsmen openers Gautham Gambhir and Virender Sehwag performed best against Sri Lanka. In addition India once again has a very strong batting line up. When questioned as how Sri Lanka would restrict the Indians and the openers in particular, Jayewardene said; “In the test matches we were willing to set attacking fields, give a few more runs to get their wickets. Obviously with the restrictions in the one day game we have to change our approach. I agree that India do have a quality batting line up. Thus there is no point in having just one game plan. The fact is we have several and if the need arises we will try them all. We do have a good bowling attack and it up to them to perform.

Another Indian to shine this time with the ball and who is also in the one day squad is Harbhajan Singh. How would Sri Lanka tackle him is the question we put to Jayewardene. He replied; “In the one day game as you know Singh can bowl only ten overs. Speaking from a batting perspective one cannot take any bowler lightly. We have to respect all the bowlers and on the day see who we can target. That is where shot selection comes in to play. You cannot go in to a game with a preconceived notion that there is one particular bowler you can get runs off

“Sri Lanka’s fielding was outstanding and Jayewardene said that was an area they continue to work. He said in conclusion; “The bottom line is we have to go out there and execute our game plan. Each player knows his role in the team and if all of us do our best, I cannot see any reason why we cannot emerge victorious.”