http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397 focused on the task at hand – Cricket News Update
Brushing aside queries regarding the dismal T20I record his team have at the R Premadasa Stadium (the venue for their upcoming World T20 semi-final clash against Pakistan), and speculations about whether Sri Lanka would have preferred to face Pakistan or
India in the semi-final, Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene displayed a single-minded concentration on the task at hand, claiming his team was only interested in the next game.
“Well, those were matches against different opponents and on many occasion we experimented,” he said when asked about Sri Lanka’s T20I record at the R Premadasa. “There have been matches where I didn’t play, or we fielded some youngsters.
“We have a good side and we picked up momentum during the Super Eights. We can’t cast our minds so long back. We need to focus on how we play the next game,” he insisted.
Sri Lanka have had an eventful journey through the ongoing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 and Zimbabwe, for the group stages. They won their first match against the Rhodesians, but lost to South
Africa – however, they qualified for the Super Eight stage over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045, and moved forward in the tournament.
Sri Lanka’s first match in the Super Eights stage, against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c749, securing a spot in the tournament
semi-finals.
The team is now due to face Pakistan, on October 4, at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo for the first semi. Since they started playing T20Is, in 2006, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 have played 4 T20s at the venue, and have lost all four. However, Jayawardene has insisted
the team are focused on maintaining their momentum in the current tournament, and not bothered by old stats, with their last T20I at the R Premadasa having been played in 2009.
When asked whether his team would rather face http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, the skipper displayed a similar desire for single-mindedness concentration, and brushed the question aside, claiming it was inconsequential.
“If you want to be champions, you need to beat anyone,” he said.
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