Must win series for Sri Lanka

Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Cricket: Sri Lanka has never gone into a one-day international series so much under pressure as to win all three matches against Pakistan to avoid a play-off to play in the ICC Champions trophy.

Skipper Marvan Atapattu is hoping that his players will make use of the situation to lift them up and perform.

"Most teams do well after playing against Australia. When you know it's a must win situation the players lift themselves up for the occasion. I hope it will be one of those occasions.

I guarantee you that we want to focus on one game at a time. We are desperate to do well here," said Atapattu as Sri Lanka take on Pakistan in the first one-day international at the R. Premadasa Stadium under lights today.

"We have to win all three matches to lift ourselves from the No. 7 spot. We'll just go out there and give off our best shot. What else can we think of? If we think of the rankings and what we are going to end up with I don't think we will be doing too well. We'll be focusing elsewhere," said Atapattu.

"When we were no. 2 in the rankings it didn't matter too much. We were doing well and all of a sudden here we are at seven and people saying this is what you have got to do. We are all a bit concerned. We all believe that we are better than our ranking indicates."

"It's all about being competitive. Just because you won a couple of games earlier don't mean that you keep on winning. If that is the case I don't think the West Indies should be in the position they are today after what they have done in the eighties," he said.

Atapattu admitted no one would want to lose two of their best players ahead of a crucial series. Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas have both been ruled out with injuries but Atapattu was hopeful that the players replacing them Upul Tharanga and Lasith Malinga would give their 100 percent.

"Let's hope and pray that they are good against the big boys when they play in the big league," said Atapattu.

"In one-day cricket I firmly believe that if you bat well, you will win more games frequently. Our batting has to click. There are batsmen whom you expect to score every time. It doesn't happen that way. It's a matter of having the right people behind to put them under pressure to get the best out of them.

If you know that there is no one pushing you for places it does not create a healthy environment," Atapattu said.

Batsman Chamara Kapugedera and leg-spinner Malinga Bandara are due to miss today's game. The line up reads something like: Tharanga, Atapattu, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Arnold, Dilshan, Maharoof, Lokuaraachchi, Malinga, Muralitharan and Prasad.

Considerable progress

Coach Tom Moody said that in the past four months as a group of players they had made considerable progress.

"We worked very hard. It's a marathon not a sprint. We need to make sure we continue to improve over the next 12 months and significant improvements have been made and will continue to be made," said Moody.

"The success the team has had in Australia in conditions where historically we haven't been that strong, has been great for the team's belief and confidence. It's just important that we continue to grow as a side and improve.

Hopefully in 12 months time I am sure we are gonna be a side that will be in a strong position."

One area which Moody said Sri Lanka needed to improve was the batting.

"We need to stabilize our batting. We've had quite a bit of inconsistent batting over the past few months. We are getting players to understand their roles, getting the right players into the right positions," said Moody.

Another area which Moody said they need to improve is bowling in the 20-over field restriction time.

Moody said the traveling they had to undergo in the past four months had physically and mentally taken a toll on the players.

"It's been a very hectic schedule. To come home from a VB series in Australia and spend 20 hours in Colombo and head off to Bangladesh is not the ideal scenario from a physical or mental point of view.

Since India our feet has not touched the ground really," said Moody.

"The players are bearing okay at this stage. We've got a few wounded but the players are looking forward to this series," he said.