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'We will take on the Aussies in Sri Lankan style' - Marvan
By S.R. Pathiravithana
For any foreign team a tour of the sub-continent is a gruelling one. It was only in December the Englishmen learned that lesson the very hard way. They held on to the first two games for their dear lives and saved them, but, in the third game their whole world fell apart as they could not hold on to a severe onslaught by the little Lankans .

The Australianson their part will never forget the debacle at Asgiriya and the eventual series defeat at the hands of the Lankans in their last visit. In that visit the Australian team was a much stronger team at least on paper than the present side who are going through some hick-ups against India on their own home soil.

To learn on how the guys who eventually will face the music in the middle The Sunday Times met Sri Lanka's ODI captain (and the overall captain in waiting ) Marvan Atapattu to share his views with the rest of us.

" As we all know taking on the Aussies is no easy task. It's going to be one heck of a challenge. But, as captain I prefer to take on the best in world than the worst because at a contest with them we can really judge our capabilities. This is going to be a challenge for me as captain as well as all other players in the squad" was Marvan's opening view on the subject.

When asked about the Australian approach which is known to be the most aggressive in the world and are we planning to match fire with fire Marvan took the question philosophically he said " yes, we must match fire with fire, but, our approach will be made in the Sri Lankan style. We proved that the Sri Lankan style is a very good one in the 1996 World Cup and it was successful. Thereafter even other countries have adopted our approach I think we will stick to our proven style".

The Lankan ODI skipper is not totally convinced with the Lankan batting. When he was asked if he was satisfied with the batting performance against England he said " I am not one hundred percent satisfied with our batting performance against England. Though we did well against them there were areas in our batting we missed on, it is good to set our mind on it and put things right."

On the aspect of bowling Atapattu commented, " In the ODI's it is an inspiration that Sanath is there to fill in. When he fills in with his quota we have the luxury of playing an extra batsman. Because as long as Murali is there I think more than half of our problems are over. He takes about 75 per cent of that burden on himself and the other aspect is that Chaminda Vaas is also more than an asset.

He is a great performer in our quest for success and a lot will depend upon him too. Ironically at present Dilhara Fernando is injured once again and as I learn he will be out at least from the one-day series so for the remaining places we will have to depend on the other bowlers who are performing well at present. But, in the longer version of the game we are in need of a another support bowler to assist Muralitharan and Vaas. Besides Dilhara I have not seen any right now.

Commenting on the Dambulla wicket where they will be playing their opening game Atapattu was rather sceptical. " When the lights were fixed before the England match we played a practice match there and we found it difficult. Most of our top batsmen got out twice in that game. Even the game against England can not be taken as a yard stick as that game was a low scoring one and that did not run late into the night. However lately I hear some saying that it had turned into a batting paradise and the people in charge have put a lot of work into it. However I wonder how can a pitch of that nature turn into a good track in such a short time".

Atapattu did not dwell much upon the strengths and weaknesses of the Australians. He said " the Australians probably without Glen McGrath and Shane Warne will be weaker side in bowling, but they have an awesome batting line-up. That has not depleted, but has gone from strength to strength. All in all I think that this is going to be a very competitive one.

In his answer to the question if he saw this present combination being there till the next World Cup Marvan said that this side which is a combination of youth and experience should go on till then and at that point the composition of our national squad will be a very experienced one.

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