“We discuss every bowler,” the ace leggie said of his team's preparations. “It's his first Test match, let's not forget that. As a youngster, when you play your first Test match, you're obviously nervous. Plus if you look at our batting strength, most of them have played 100 Test matches. We respect every bowler. The two bowlers who have done well over the years are Murali and Vaas and you can't discount that. It's a matter of handling the bowlers you face and taking the opportunities that come your way as a batting unit.”

Acknowledging that India's playing eleven would be 'more or less what we played in the tour match,' Kumble refused to compare the strengths of the two sides. “We are looking at what we are capable of and how we can maximise our potential in terms of our bowling, batting and fielding. We are not looking to say we have an edge over Sri Lanka in this department  or that they have an edge over us in another department. We are looking at the positive things we have in our team.”

India will not have to contend with Sanath Jayasuriya during the Testseries. "He's a big player. It really helps when you don't have someone of his calibre and experience at the top of the order in theopposition," Kumble smiled. "He's a big-match player but Sri Lanka also have other quality batsmen. Mahela, Sangakkara, others have done well in recent times, and we need to respect all batsmen."

Mahela confident

Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene has revealed the driving force behind Sri Lanka's remarkable run of successes on home patch — plenty of pride.

“There is a lot of pride involved in it, we don't want anyone else to come and beat us at home. That's the attitude we go with,” he said.  “The fans are here to support us and as this is our home ground, we would like to protect that. That's why we are very consistent at home and we will continue to be so. If you can't do well at home, that will be an issue because we have grown up in these conditions. It's a healthy positive pressure we have in the team.” He also didn't commit to a Test debut for Ajantha Mendis, asserting that the conditions would have the final say.

"We can't control the hype that has been built up," he observed. "It's good to have him, but we still haven't finalsied our eleven because of the conditions, it has been overcast. But it's good for him if he makes his debut. It will be a great opportunity for a young guy who has come from humble beginnings. It is a luxury for him to have Murali and Vaasi around him because they are going to take the bulk of the responsibility. What we want him to do is go out and enjoy himself.”