Ind vs SL: Lanka confident ahead of summit clash: Jayawardene

MUMBAI: Sri Lanka are confident ahead of the World Cup final against India and the win over New Zealand in the last-four stage was an ideal tune-up for Saturday’s summit clash at the Wankhede Stadium, according to middle-order batsman Mahela Jayawardene.

“We are very confident going into the game on Saturday. The guys are really excited. We batted brilliantly and were positive in our approach (in the semifinal at Colombo on March 29), but we had wobbled in a couple of overs where they put some pressure on us,” he said.

“The guys came out very well, but you need that kind of games under your belt going into the best part of the tournament,” said the former Lanka skipper ahead of the first all-Asian final in the tournament’s 36-year-old history.

“We had a very good chat how we are going to approach the final. For a lot of players it was a dream to play for Sri Lanka and now they are on the verge of winning the World Cup,” the 33-year-old stylish batsman remarked.

“We are quite happy overall if you take the tournament. We have handled situations very well, something spoken about. The bowlers, batsmen and everyone has risen to the occasion,” said Jayawardene, who led the team to the final of the last edition in the West Indies, where they lost to Australia.

While Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and a few other players, prior to the tournament, said that they wanted to win the coveted title for the team’s elder statesman Sachin Tendulkar, Sri Lanka do not carry similar sentiments for their own iconic cricketer Mutthiah Muralitharan, Jayawardene said.

“We started the World Cup thinking we would win it for Sri Lanka. I don’t think we want to change that. Even Murali would have the same sentiment as well. He wants to win it for Sri Lanka,” said Jayawardene.

The final will be the veteran off spinner’s last game in international cricket, but there are some doubts whether he will be fit enough to bow out at the grand stage because he’s carrying niggles, and Suraj Randiv is being flown in as a cover.

Jayawardene said the team, as a group, has put behind the mauling it received at the hands of retired Australian great Adam Gilchrist in the 2007 final, when the hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman made a match-winning 149 off only 104 balls with 8 sixes and 13 fours.

Replying to a question whether Lanka feared a similar assault from Indian openers Sachin Tendulkar or Virender Sehwag, he said, “You might never know Lasith Malinga will have a brilliant day or Murali, for that matter. I hope our guys will do something different.

“In the 2007 World Cup final, Gilly did play that brilliant knock and we never had the opportunity to get into the game.”

Sanga has got all the guys reading the same page: Jayawardene

MUMBAI: Former captain Mahela Jayawardene on Thursday heaped rich praise on his successor Kumar Sangakkara and said that the team members were in sync with the current skipper.  “He knows what exactly he wants from the team. Tactically, you can’t doubt him, he knows inside and outside of the game. He reads it well. He has got all other guys reading the same book and same page. So he has got everything under control,” he said.

“Kumar is fantastic. He has set goals for himself like with his batting and everything in the last five or six years. He is so determined to be a better player,” Jayawardene said.  Sangakkara is seeking to achieve what his predecessor failed to four years ago in the West Indies - winning the World Cup - at the Wankhede stadium on Saturday.  Four years ago Jayawardene’s men finished second-best to Ricky Ponting’s Australia in the final at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.  “He is the guy who drives for the goals. That is why I feel how he handles the pressure easily. If he sets for something no one can distract,” Jayawardene said of his skipper.  “He had a vision (for the tournament), exactly, who he wanted in the team and how he wanted to prepare, especially with the younger guys who he had earmarked. He got them prepared for this.