ADELAIDE: Mahela Jayawardene seems to have learnt the lesson as the Sri Lanka captain asked his batsmen to banish all negative thoughts and play the patience game in the crucial tri-series match against India here on Tuesday.
The Lankan batsmen may not have set alight the tournament but Jayawardene said there was no need to be bogged down by any negative thought and runs would flow only if they just hang around.
"Guys who have scored runs haven't gone for big shots. They have relied on the patience game, Michael (Clarke) did so the other night, (Gautam) Gambhir in Brisbane, Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara) in Perth," Jayawardene said.
"One needs to spend more time at the wicket and wait for opportunity. It's not easy to score runs quickly but rather you need to work your way in the innings," he added.
With four more games to go the team should look ahead, he asserted.
"We need to keep wickets in hand and bat well and not to have too many negative thoughts going into tomorrow," said the thoughtful Sri Lankan captain.
"We need to forget about the bad games and move on."
Albeit a little worried with the batting order, Jayawardene sensed his bowlers have given him no cause for any complaint even though Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan haven't been among wickets.
"Teams give them respect and don't want to give them too many wickets and I'm happy for that as other bowlers are picking up wickets. Both Murali and Vaas have kept it really tight.
"I am happy with my bowlers. They have done a good job. Its the batsmen who have to do well if we are to go further in this tournament," Jayawardene said.
"Bowlers have done a pretty good job. It's the batsmen who have to step up, not us but all the teams."
Jayawardene said his team's goals were not dissimilar to India going into tomorrow's match.
"We have the same thoughts - beat them in both the games and get into the finals."
Sri Lanka would be looking to win two of their remaining four gamesthe same thought which is uppermost in India's mind.
Jayawardene believed the wicket at the centre of Adelaide Oval wasn't different to what they had faced in a three-day game ahead of the Test series last year.
"We are playing on the same wicket we actually played in a three-day game here. It had a bit of grass, bit of pace and movement.
"It's a good thing. It's a used wicket and probably could get slower and spinners might have a role to play in it. But right now it looks a good wicket."
