After scoring a confidence-boosting half-century against Sri Lanka ‘A’ on Sunday, Indian opener Wasim Jaffer said he was keen to convert the starts into substantial scores in the Test.

“I'm in good touch and scored a few good scores in the Test matches and here as well (against Sri Lanka ‘A’). I am taking a lot of confidence from this knock and I will have to try and convert this into a big one in the Test,” Jaffer said.

“From a team point of view, the main bowlers had a bowl in the Tests and all the batsmen too had some practice. We are in a good frame of mind and everybody knows how important the Oval Test is,” Jaffer added.

The Mumbai batsman said he has matured a lot after his last visit to England in 2002.

“I was five years younger when I last played in England. I have matured as a player now and learnt quite a lot. I had gone back to domestic cricket and tried to correct whatever mistakes I use to make. I was determined to come back. I travel better now. That tour changed me completely, made me mature,” he said.

On the impact of England left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom could have in the Oval Test, Jaffer observed, “We handled Sidebottom well in Trent Brid-ge and played him really well. We’ve got a couple of left-arm fast bowlers in our team as well. Hopefully, it should not be a problem.”

Jaffer also stressed the importance of playing against a good side like Sri Lanka ‘A’ and termed it as mutually beneficial. “All the ‘A’ teams on the tour get these games which are very important. If I were to come as an ‘A’ tour player, I would have taken this very seriously. The competition is very strong compared to county cricket,” he said.