Sri Lanka set to go all out

Former captain urges team to give 100 per cent

By Rachel Griffiths   Last updated: 30th November 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Sri Lanka set to go all out

Jayawardene: Urging team to go flat out

We now have to go all out to win the final Test in Mumbai and square the series

Mahela Jayawardene
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Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene believes his team must "go all out" for a win in their final Test against India at the Brabourne Stadium on Wednesday.

India thumped Sri Lanka by an innings and 144 runs in the second Test in Kanpur and a win in Mumbai will boost them to the top of the International Cricket Council's Test rankings.

The first Test in Ahmedabad was a draw following Sri Lanka's comeback from a huge first-innings deficit, meaning Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side hold a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.

However, former captain Jayawardene is expecting maximum input from his colleagues for the upcoming match to ensure they level the score.

Goal

"Our goal when we came to India was to win our first Test here," said Jayawardene in his column for cricketnirvana.com.

"But the reverse in Kanpur brings our goals into sharp focus. We now have to go all out to win the final Test in Mumbai and square the series.

"The way forward is to not think too much about the defeat or over-analyse what happened but to pick ourselves up and perform as a group."

Sri Lanka came under fire for fielding three specialist spinners in Kanpur, but Jayawardene believes it was problems in the batting line-up that led to the defeat.

"Over the last couple of years our batting has been reliable and we had the men to put the runs on the board," he added.

"It just didn't happen in Kanpur and this, rather than composition was why we lost."

Struggle

The world's leading bowler Muttiah Muralitharan has struggled on Sri Lanka's tour, with the spinner managing just five wickets at an average of 79.20, but captain Kumar Sangakkara refuses to write him off.

"He is still the best bowler that's played the game," said Sangakkara.

"You still have to have faith in him and trust him and back him 100% to do the job because he is going to do it at some point.

"Having said that, we could do with a bit more penetration with spin."

Meanwhile, opener Gautam Gambhir will be absent from the India team for family reasons, but Dhoni insists his replacement, speculated to be Tamil Nadu batsman Murali Vijay, will be capable of filling his shoes.

"It is difficult to say how much the team will miss Gambhir," said Dhoni. "We are a side that depends greatly on a good start and whoever opens with (Virender) Sehwag should be able to do that.

"Whenever Gambhir and Sehwag give us a good start, the run rate is pretty high and that makes it easier for the batsmen to follow."