The Hindu : Sport : Despite security concerns, players raring to take the field

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Friday, Aug 18, 2006

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Despite security concerns, players raring to take the field

Results of hard work are beginning to show, writes Tom Moody

On a roll

Sri Lanka are coming off two fantastic series against England and South Africa, and a lot has been written and said about the team's new-found resilience and fighting spirit.

I would put that down to the tremendous hard work that all of us — the players, team management and support staff — have put in. The results of that hard work are starting to show, though we know there are still plenty of areas in which we have to improve.

What I am really happy about is that we have adopted what I call a process-driven, rather than results-driven approach.

I obviously can't say that we will never lose a match again, because that is impossible, but if we continue to improve the way we have, I honestly don't see why we can't take our place among the world's best.

A lot of our efforts have been directed towards developing a culture of self-belief and confidence among the players. Whatever the team, and whatever the venue, we know we will hang in and fight.

Relishing captaincy

Of course, the team must take a large part of the credit. What has been particularly pleasing is the way Mahela (Jayawardene) has taken over the captaincy and actually flourished.

Captaincy is always a tricky thing, because a lot of players tend to let it affect their performance, but Mahela — always an astute tactician and potential leader — evidently relishes it, and the team has benefited from the flow of runs off his bat.

With all three matches scheduled at the SSC, where we practised this on Thursday afternoon, we expect a reasonably fast outfield and a track with slightly more bounce and carry than the one at Premadasa.

However, I consider it significant that both Harbhajan Singh — as frontline spinner — and Ramesh Powar have found place in the side, because I feel both will have a say during the middle overs. The Indians will be formidable opponents. Sachin Tendulkar, as usual, is a huge threat, while Yuvraj Singh is in splendid form. Particularly disconcerting is his ability to turn a match around during the middle overs.

Records can have no bearing

With such players in the side, it means little to me that India have only won 19 of the 33 ODIs they have played in Sri Lanka. Records can have no bearing on ground realities.

Finally, much has been made of the security fears surrounding the series. Some people have even reportedly said that the teams were anxious to finish with the matches and go home safe and sound.

Well, I spoke to Greg Chappell and I can speak for the Sri Lankan team, and I can tell you that we are all raring to play.

Three times in the last three days we have prepared for matches that didn't happen. A good game of cricket would be the best thing for everybody in the circumstances.

(Gameplan)

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