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| | GEO Sports | | Cricket: Pakistan - Sri Lanka 2nd test today | Updated at: 0525 PST, Sunday, March 01, 2009
 KARACHI: Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene believes his team will not be put off by the occasion of his last match as skipper when the second test against Pakistan starts Sunday.
"I don't think it's a distraction," Jayawardene said Saturday.
"The focus and emphasis is on winning the test match...nothing is different."
With his last coin toss looming, Jayawardene said he has had no second thoughts about making way for a yet-to-be-named successor.
"I felt it was the right time to step down," Jayawardene said.
Experienced left-handed batsman Kumar Sangakkara is the most likely replacement.
Pakistan captain Younis Khan is wary of Jaywardene's threat in a match that will decide the series after the drawn first test.
"We have to be aware of them because it will be Mahela's last test," Khan said.
Khan scored a triple century in Karachi in his first test as captain, guiding a team that was playing its first test in 14 months. He was looking for continued improvement in the new-look team rather than results.
"I don't have much expectations from my players to win the series because it's a young team," Khan said Saturday.
"My focus is to only gel them together so that they can gain experience and do well in future."
The first test wicket at Karachi came under severe criticism for offering nothing for the bowlers, but Khan expected the Gaddafi Stadium strip to provide a better contest between bat and ball.
There was still some grass on the Lahore pitch — unlike at Karachi — on Saturday as groundsmen made final touches.
"There's not much international cricket being played in Pakistan recently so it's necessary that test matches should be result-oriented," Khan said.
These two teams played here in January in a one-day match, with Pakistan bowled out for a humbling 75, so Jayawardene was not expecting a repeat of the Karachi run-fest.
"That wicket had something for the bowlers and looking at it we feel that probably there will be something for the fast bowlers in it," Jayawardene said.
The 31-year-old Jayawardene, who was appointed captain in 2006, is the most successful Sri Lanka captain in tests. He led in 27 tests — winning 15, losing seven and drawing five. In 94 one-day internationals, Jayawardene won 54, lost 35 were five ended in no-results. He nominated the 2007 World Cup final against Australia as the greatest occasion in his captaincy.
Pakistan has kept the same 12 which played in the last test. Uncapped fast bowler Mohammad Talha could be the only change in the playing XI, replacing Sohail Khan.
"Maybe we make one change, but that we will finalize after having a final look at the wicket Sunday morning," Khan said.
Sri Lanka has also not finalized its playing XI. The tourists have called up fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara in place of injured Farveez Maharoof, who flew back home after injuring a hamstring during practice just before the first test. |  |
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