We are looking forward to turning things around this time: Jayawardene

[SachDan]

PTI Sunday, January 25, 2009 19:00 IST Karachi: After the 2-1 one-day series win over Pakistan, Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene has now turned his sights on India and said his side was keen to avenge their home loss against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men last year. The Sri Lankans went down 2-3 to India in the one-day series and Jayawardene didn't mince words when he said they were looking to turn things around when Dhoni's team tours the island nation for a five-match series starting Wednesday. "The defeat to India hurt us badly and we are now looking forward to turning things around this time," Jayawardene said on Sunday before leaving Pakistan. The captain though cautioned his players that India would be a tougher opponent than Pakistan. "India is shaping up well in both forms of the game. We beat them in Tests but lost the one-day matches, so it would be a good series and we would try to keep the momentum going," he said. Jayawardene was happy with the way his team performed against Pakistan. "It has been a good series for us in Pakistan and the players showed lot of character coming back from defeat in the first match." "The batting has also started to click so it's a good sign and progress before we take on India," he said. The skipper agreed that if Sri Lanka have to beat India their batting will have to be consistent throughout the series. "We have had problems with consistency with our batting in recent series being bowled out for low totals. But the good thing is we still managed to win and that shows the character in the team," Jayawardene said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1224862

[DomainK]

Thats the spirit Mahela. Give it your best.

[zubinpepsi]

jaya can go :finger:

[cowboysfan]

it will be close but we have sehwag and tendulkar back but lost our main bowler in bhajji who bowled pretty well in the odis over there.i think we will win 3-2 again.

[EnterTheVoid]

i am tipping a 3 - 2 in favor of india

[DomainK]

Mahela's biggest worry would be his own form. He seriously needs some runs to keep his confidence going.

[cowboysfan]

Mahela's biggest worry would be his own form. He seriously needs some runs to keep his confidence going.

no place like home for mahela.

[EnterTheVoid]

are we looking at pitches where you win the toss, you win the match ?

[satishg]

yea rite...up yours Mahela..this time there is an even bigger hurdle for you in the name of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar..so pls save all this talk for the end

[EnterTheVoid]

^^ The guy's pride's hurt; Cant exactly blame him for wanting to extract revenge for the humiliation suffered at the hands of an amateurish Indian ODI squad. Whether he fulfills his promise is a story for another day

[fineleg]

I wont be surprised to see pitches turning square to suit M & M. But even then India will give a good fight.

Certainly pitches will favor M&M. Also, the Lankan batsmen including the Pappugederas score runs at home. So, India have their job cut out for them.

[bharat297]

What talk? Geez ... all he did was say he was looking forward to turning things around.

[EnterTheVoid]

^^ well, the pre - match hype / tension has to come from somewhere ...

[Fontaine]

I think a lot is going to depend on who our 3/4 bowlers are. Sri Lanka in the past have showed respect to Ishant/Zaheer and not really cut loose against them but waited for our first and second change bowlers to come on before blasting them away. This time will be no different and whoever gets picked as the first/second change bowler will have to not only restrict the flow of the runs, but stop giving away the wide deliveries and leg side nonsense that's been the hall mark of our depth bowling. I fully expect Munaf to come good here. His wicket to wicket line will be crucial and hopefully we'll get to see Pathan in some form after his superb domestc season. It's about time these two start putting in consistent performances for India.

[Ram]

I am really looking forward to this. It is going to be an excellent series. We beat them last time with a weaker side and Mendis-Mania still at large. Now, our team is stronger and hopefully, our batsman will be better at neutralizing his threat. This should be good. P.S; Personally, another reason for me to closely follow this series is see how Sachin fares in ODIs. Of course, the fact that he is a champion LOI batsman is a universal truth (his numbers speak for themselves), but in the last 15-18 months, our batting has undergone a transformation from having batsman who were good timers of the ball to essentially power-hitters who can clear the infield. It will be fascinating to see how Sachin adapts to it. In the last ODI against England, even though he made 50, he seemed to struggle to come to grips with the pace of the game. But the Master will probably, as always, pull another trick out of his hat to silence his doubters.

[EnterTheVoid]

I personally wont be shocked if our team loses the first ODI. The BCCI are the most greedy, selfish *****holes who organize ridiculous schedules without giving our team time to acclimatize to the conditions. The icing on the cake comes when they let the players bear the brunt of the fan backlash when they perform poorly in the first couple ODI's, a time in which they're getting used to the conditions

[Lord]

I personally wont be shocked if our team loses the first ODI. The BCCI are the most greedy' date=' selfish *****holes who organize ridiculous schedules without giving our team time to acclimatize to the conditions. The icing on the cake comes when they let the players bear the brunt of the fan backlash when they perform poorly in the first couple ODI's, a time in which they're getting used to the conditions[/quote'] i think this time we should applaud them for having a series inn the first place. and the host country organises practice games,so we cant do much bout that.

[cowboysfan]

I think a lot is going to depend on who our 3/4 bowlers are. Sri Lanka in the past have showed respect to Ishant/Zaheer and not really cut loose against them but waited for our first and second change bowlers to come on before blasting them away. This time will be no different and whoever gets picked as the first/second change bowler will have to not only restrict the flow of the runs, but stop giving away the wide deliveries and leg side nonsense that's been the hall mark of our depth bowling. I fully expect Munaf to come good here. His wicket to wicket line will be crucial and hopefully we'll get to see Pathan in some form after his superb domestc season. It's about time these two start putting in consistent performances for India.

nope-they are going to blast away from the start with dilshan and jaya opening.

[Fontaine]

nope-they are going to blast away from the start with dilshan and jaya opening.

The last time Sri Lanka (including Jaya) faced Zaheer in ODIs they certainly didn't over the course of the entire series.

[cowboysfan]

The last time Sri Lanka (including Jaya) faced Zaheer in ODIs they certainly didn't over the course of the entire series.

thats true but dilshan knows only one way to play and hence the pressure will be off jaya .