da brdice： We are yet to fire on all cylinders, but we have achieved our firstobjective of reaching the final of the Coca-Cola Cup
Mahela Jayawardene04-Aug-2001We are yet to fire on all cylinders, but we have achieved our firstobjective of reaching the final of the Coca-Cola Cup. Though we areconfident, having had a good record in finals recently, it will be far fromeasy, as India look to be on a roll.When the chips were down and an early elimination appeared certain theypulled together to play some strong positive cricket. During their firstthree matches their batting flopped, but they have sorted out this aspect oftheir game and all the batsmen now have some runs under their belt.Virender Shewag’s innings was particularly impressive. He came out to batwith India chasing a large total to secure qualification. It was a do or diesituation and he delivered when under pressure, taking the game away fromNew Zealand in one of the best ever innings I have seen.He played good shots too – you certainly couldn’t call it a lucky innings.Sure, he took some risks and these paid off, but he didn’t offer a chanceuntil he was on 98 and only had one other slice of luck, when he edged widethrough the slips just moments after Stephen Fleming had removed them.The New Zealand bowlers, who panicked a little during the onslaught, didn’tbowl particularly well. The fast bowlers had bowled well throughout thetournament, but on this occasion they strayed on to his pads too often andgave Shewag some balls in the slot.With the young ones like Shewag and Yuvraj Singh coming good in the lastcouple of games and the big guns – Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman – also in goodtouch, our main concern is naturally the Indian batting. The bowling hasbeen consistent, but the batting is classy and a major threat. We have toput in a top fielding performance tomorrow.The good news is that the Sri Lankan bowlers have played superbly so far -it’s been the batsmen who have let the side down. We have different plansfor each batsman and if the players can stick to those tactics then we willhave an excellent chance.The batting though will have to click too. In both games that we have lost,we only have ourselves to blame. In our second game against India atPremadasa we came unstuck, as we tried to post too high a total, and weshould have overhauled India’s moderate target at the SSC.It’s not that the batsmen are out of form. I, for example, started thetournament badly with four failures, but I never felt out of form or wasworried about my technique. It was more a case of not having enough time toplay myself in. In the first two games I was out playing my first attackingshot and that can happen to anyone.Generally, I was feeling good and that finally showed with some runs at SSC.All the other batsmen, the top and middle order, have scored runs too, so it’s a matter of pulling everything together for the final big game.We have done just that in recent times and I believe that’s because of thespirit in the side, which allows us to relax. We treat it as just anothergame. If you get wound up about it then you put yourself under too muchpressure and increase the chances of freezing. We will prepare as normal andhave a team meeting tonight, in which we will focus on the basics.There is a good atmosphere in the side and no one is going to blame you forfailure. Sure, as professionals we have to take responsibility for ouractions, but you cannot fear failure. We must not be afraid of trying thingsand taking risks. It’s so important that the players, and the team, thinksfreely and enjoys their cricket. If we do then we have a great chancetomorrow.