Sri lanka captain Angelo Mathews exuded confidence as he stated that his team is physically and mentally read for the challenge that will be posed a by formidable Indian side led by MS Dhoni in the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy.
“India are a strong team to beat, but we are prepared physically and mentally,” the young lankan skipper told reporters here on Wednesday afternoon.
For the talented all-rounder, it will be a big achievement if Sri lanka are able to get past India ton Thursday.
“We are aware of our poor record. It will be an achievement if Sri lanka can beat India here tomorrow and on our day, we can beat any team in the world,” Mathews said.
Just like his illustrious counterpart Dhoni, the lankan captain also doesn’t believe in exacting revenge. “In sport, there is no word called revenge,” he said. The semi-final at the Sophia Gardens is threatened by rain and in case of a wash-out, India will go through to the final in Birmingham on June 23.
Mathews said he was not even thinking about such a possibility as it is “out of our control”.
Sri lanka have a poor record to defend against India. After the WC final, the lankans have lost seven out of 10 matches against Dhoni’s team. One match at the Adelaide Oval in February 2012, ended in a tie.
Mathews did admitted that although lot depends on the veteran troika of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan but juniors will also need to put their hands up in trying circumstances.
“They are the backbone of our batting but we have seven batsmen and young guys like (Dinesh) Chandimal and (lahiru) Thirimanne are in good form,” Mathews said.
“We can’t depend on certain players. We have to work as a team and whoever gets set has to bat till the last. It’s going to be a mix of Test and ODI batting as we have to keep things flexible,” Mathews said.
Having beaten hosts England and defending champions Australia, Sri lanka are high on motivation and aims to reproduce the killer instinct the team displayed in the group games. “We are a fighting team. All our three matches went down to the wire. We lost a close game against New Zealand, but the wins against England and Australia give us plenty of confidence. Our bowlers now have the experience to deal with the strong Indian batting,” said Mathews.
The lankan skipper said India can ignore lasith Malinga at their own peril. “Yes, I am aware we play a lot of cricket together but to ignore lasith is not a good idea. He remains a very experienced man and he will surely have special plans against them,” Mathews said.