Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews today said his team will look to give retiring legend Kumar Sangakkara a winning send off when they take on India in a highly-emotional second cricket Test starting here tomorrow.
Sangakkara will bid farewell to international cricket after the second Test and Mathews said it will be a highly emotional affair for his side.
"It's going to be an emotional game for all of us as a great of Sri Lanka cricket, a great servant for the team, and a great human being is saying goodbye," said Mathews today.
"We can't thank him enough for what he has done for Sri Lankan cricket and the team over the past so many years. We thank him truly and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.
"The best we could do is try and win the game so that we win the series. That will be the best farewell for him. We are trying our best to do that. The boys are all well prepared. We trained extremely hard in the past two days, even though it rained yesterday, on all aspects of the game and we are ready to go," he added.
It has been a muted affair here in Sri Lanka, ever since the Test series began. Sangakkara himself has stayed away from all the attention, instead focusing on his last international match.
The coming few days will nevertheless see an outpouring of emotion from every quarter.
"From what I can see, he just wants to score a hundred tomorrow. He's worked extremely hard and is so determined to do that and I truly wish and hope he does that. It's going to be an emotional game for him as well," said Mathews.
"He's been with us for so long, with the national team, and he has been the backbone of Sri Lankan batting over the past 18 years. It's going to be tough game for him as well emotionally but all good things have to come to an end unfortunately. After the match, we will have a small get-together farewell for him as well," he added.
Sri Lanka had won the first Test in Galle in a shocking turn-around.
India had dominated that match for the first three days and somehow the hosts managed to turn it around and shock the tourists with a 63-run win.
Mathews said: "We can improve a lot when it comes to all three departments. India had us by our throats for three and a half days, and the courage and the character the boys showed to come back within three sessions to win the game is unbelievable.
"Now we have already shoved that under the carpet and it's history. We have got two more games to go. We have got to play very good cricket to beat India no matter where we play at home or away.
"It's a tremendous challenge for all of us to beat them. It's going to be a tough ask so we will give it our best shot. We have to play really good cricket to win against them.
"When it comes to confidence, yes it was a great turnaround for us. When you win a game and pull a rabbit out of the bag, it is tremendous for the confidence of the team. We can't be thinking of the last game though, and we have got to move on. We are starting a fresh game tomorrow," he added.
A hard deck is expected for the game, but it is also expected to turn as grass was shaved off the wicket today.
When asked if the Indian batsmen have trouble countering spin as compared to Indian batsmen of the past, Mathews replied in the negative.
"You are comparing the legends of the game with this young Indian team. When it comes to Sanga and Mahela there is quite a difference when it comes to our team as well. You can't really compare the Sachins, Dravids and Laxmans with the young and upcoming Indian team.
"But they are extremely good batsmen and with time they will improve. They have not played too many games for India yet, but with time they will be really good players," he signed off.
(The New Indian Express)
