“It’s all about preparation,” the Lankan captain said on Monday afternoon. “One-day cricket is totally different from Test matches. It’s going to be an interesting series. India have done well in the recent past with a young team and Australia are always very consistent. Most teams are trying to set themselves up for the next World Cup by bringing in new players and seeing if they fit into the set-up.

“Every game, every point and every bonus point becomes very important in a tri-series.

“It’s very important to get off to a good start. In a tournament like this, the first goal of every team is to get into the finals. Australia start favourites, but that doesn’t mean you can’t knock them out of the competition if you play consistently good cricket.”

New batsmen
Jayawardene said the Sri Lankans had seen a fair bit of most of India’s new batsmen.

“We have played against quite a few. Manoj Tiwary and Rohit Sharma are the only guys we haven’t come up against. But we saw Rohit at the Twenty20 World Cup. We therefore have a pretty good idea about them.
“India are a young side, but they have got the experience as well,” said Jayawardene, who deftly avoided a bounce when asked if Sri Lanka had the edge over India.

“It’s too early to talk about it. We need to start playing first, take it one game at a time. It all depends on your form, and how you adapt to conditions and situations.”

No serious injury
Allaying doubts surrounding Sanath Jayasuriya's availability — the left-handed opener was struck on the jaw during a practice game in Hobart on Friday — Jayawardene went on, “He is fine. It was just a cut, he needed a couple of stitches. It’s nothing serious, he’s fine and should play tomorrow.”

Jayawardene was queried about his instructions to his team in light of Harbhajan Singh being accused of racial abuse by Andrew Symonds.

“I have told the guys to concentrate on cricket, as simple as that. It was the advice I got as a youngster, and it's the same advice I am giving the youngsters. It's a good lesson for all of us.

“These kind of things will crop up in future as well, but hopefully not too much. We shouldn't dwell on it too much, but move forward and concentrate on playing some good quality cricket.

“India showed that they are a tough side, they blocked everything else out and played excellent cricket after the first two Tests. They showed a lot of character, and that is the way forward for all teams,” explained Jayawardene.