Young, fit and eager to succeed

The forthcoming tour of South Africa is a big challenge for Sri Lanka. South Africa have proved that they are one of the best sides in the world and they are very difficult to beat at home. However, we have been doing well in the recent past and it is very important that we keep to the trend and perform well in South Africa.

The recent performance in Sharjah, where we won five matches in a row to clinch the title, has really boosted the confidence of the team. We are looking forward the challenge and itching to get into the fray.

Personally, I gained a great deal of confidence during that tournament. After a lean patch against Pakistan and South Africa at home I now feel that I am back in form and ready to do battle with the South Africans. There is tough competition for places in the Sri Lankan team and you need to consistently perform well to be guaranteed of your place.

The key to doing well there will be to adjust quickly to the different pitch conditions. I have toured there before and the pitches tend to have more pace and greater bounce than our domestic surfaces.

Different players have different ways of preparing for foreign conditions. I haven't made any technical adjustments so far as I prefer to take things as they come and I believe that I will adjust to the situation when it comes. It is a philosophy that has so far worked well for me.

As a team we have come along way in the last 18 months. We have a lot of new players in the side. We are younger, fitter and there is greater eagerness to succeed. The tough competition for places drives you on and there is no room for complacency if you want to stay in the team.

However, our greatest strength is the togetherness and team spirit that has been fostered by Dav and Sanath. It allows us to play as a team and we rarely win because of one person. Everyone has a role to play and when someone fails another person has stood up to be counted.

We are lucky in that we are always together as a group, no matter whether we are on tour or in Sri Lanka. We all live in Colombo and can train as a squad everyday. This certainly helps but it's the willingness to perform for each other that sets us apart from other teams. Moreover, we enjoy ourselves when we play. It is something that Dav has been working really hard on since he returned to Sri Lanka.

Sanath has been doing a great job and deserves great credit. He always talks to the players and there is open discussion of the issues. Of course he makes the final decision but he takes everyone's views into account.

This doesn't mean we are complacent though. We were impressed by the performance of the South Africans when they came to Sri Lanka. However, we were bitterly disappointed to have drawn the test series. We should have finished them off in Kandy but we let them off the hook and back into the series. Now we have a chance to make up for that.