Mahela Jayawardene and his team might be under tremendous pressure going into the last league game here, but the skipper isn't showing any stress.
In fact, Jayawardene attempted to make light of all the pressure while speaking here on Thursday. “Irrespective of what happens here on Friday against Australia, I think we can take a lot of positives from the tri-series. We have shown consistency and if we continue playing like this, we will win a lot more than we lose,” he said.
Destiny in our hands
In an obvious reference to India he quipped, “We are in a good situation, we can decide our destiny. We are not dependent on any other side to do us favours in the last league game.”
Looking back at Tuesday's match at Hobart, Jayawardene did concede that the bowlers, perhaps, needed to take time between deliveries. “The pacemen tried pretty much what they could, yorkers and stuff like that, but the Indians responded well.”
He elaborated, “We did many things, perhaps due to the way the Indians were batting. We went with the momentum rather than try and change things. I think the bowlers need to think out of the box in these situations, try something different.”
Batting all-rounder
Jayawardene was pleased with the progress made by all-rounders Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera and Farveez Maharoof. “Angelo is more of a batting all-rounder. We need Thisara more as a bowler who can bat to fit into our plans. Maharoof has been bowling well and is capable with the bat. He just needs a little more confidence. He won't be playing on Friday because of a sore back.”
The Sri Lankan captain maintained his team handled pace and bounce better than most teams. “If you see our performance in England, in South Africa or here, I think we have done well.”
Australian fast bowler Brett Lee revealed he had been bowling in pain during the ODI series. The experienced paceman said, “It (the foot) is still broken. I had an X-ray yesterday, but the show must go on,” he said.
Lee added, “You have to do these things when you are playing for your country, bowl through pain.”
The senior paceman believed he had done enough in the series to keep his place in the eleven for Friday's game against the Sri Lankans. Lee was also happy with the depth in the Australian pace bowling ranks these days.
“There was a period when we did not have pace bowlers coming through. Now we have seven or eight of them who can play for Australia in Tests, ODIs or Twenty20 games. It keeps the options open and will shake away complacency whether you are an older guy or a youngster coming through.”
One of the younger guys, James Pattinson, returning to the Australian team after overcoming a foot injury, said, “I haven't been out of the game for a long time (he played in the first two Tests against India) and don't really have to search for my rhythm.
“It's all coming back naturally to me. I just want to go out there and give it a shot in the shorter formats.”
