Tharanga looks to emulate Test success

dubai — Sri Lankan captain Upul Tharanga said his men would draw inspiration from their stunning 2-0 Test victory over Pakistan when the two Asian teams lock horns in the five-match ODI series in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

“The Test team had the hunger to perform well so the players who have come into the ODI side should have the same hunger to win,” the elegant left-hander told reporters before leading his side to their final practice session ahead of Friday’s first ODI against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

“We have spoken a lot about how the boys won the Test series. We didn’t win the Test series by planning for just one day. The plans were laid down days ahead and the players and support staff took a lot of pain to earn this success,” Tharanga said.

“There were different situations during the Tests and all of them were handled properly. This is what we have to carry forward to the ODI series. Also, the new players have spoken to the players who had played in the Test series regarding the ground and conditions. So we have got all the information we need from them.”

But Tharanga knows it will be a different-ball game in the 50 overs matches. They hit the nadir last month, losing all five matches against India at home. They even failed to beat minnows Zimbabwe in their previous home ODI series, forcing Angelo Mathews to step down from captaincy.

“We need to forget about the past (against Zimbabwe and India). We accept that we haven’t played well in recent times in one-day cricket. But we had two occasions when we could have won against India but we failed. The failure was mainly because of our batsmen,” Tharanga said.

“We start off well but lose wickets in the middle overs. That’s the area we have to improve on. ” Tharanga admitted that he had the highest respect of Pakistan in one-day cricket.

‘Pakistan’s recent performances in the one-day games are brilliant. They are the Champions Trophy winners for a reason. They are always a very good white ball team. But our players will be inspired after having seen the Test team win two matches against them.”

rituraj@khaleejtimes.com