We can forget India - Atapattu

Sri Lanka head coach Marvan Atapattu is confident his team will be able to put aside the 5-0 defeat they suffered in India and bounce back in the seven-match ODI series against England.

The whitewash in India was just Sri Lanka's third loss in their last ten series and Atapattu insisted the trip was not as bad as the scoreline suggests.

"The best thing that happened to us in the three weeks in India is that although we went through a very bad period losing one match after another we had a very positive dressing room," Atapattu said.

"The players kept motivating each other, contributions were coming from every corner and the players wanted to do well although the execution was not right there. I've been in dressing rooms especially in India where things had gone wrong and I've seen worse than what I have experienced with this team.

"We want to think that this is a new series and India is just a bad experience. Teams will go through such periods. We are a team that has done so well in the past few months or so winning six of our last ten one-day series and lost only three to Pakistan, South Africa and now India. For a team that has lost very few series we are a unit that is quite capable of bouncing back.

"I am quite confident of the boys doing well especially in their preparations, practices, meetings and the efforts they are putting in. At the same time we got to know there are a few areas we need to brush up the bowling for instance. Lasith Malinga is nursing an injury and Sachithra Senanayake hopefully will come back very soon. We won't be at full strength at least till mid-January. But the ones that we are working with are giving their 100 percent."

Atapattu said the team had started to show signs of playing the kind of cricket they are capable of during the fifth and final ODI at Ranchi, which was only lost by three wickets in the penultimate over.

"The last game we really played to a plan that we are renowned for and if we had played the series that way it would have been more competitive. I wouldn't guarantee victories but happier knowing that we had done something we are capable of doing without worrying about what the Indians can do."

Does that mean that Sri Lanka were under prepared going into the Indian series? "In a sense yes. It's a known fact that this tour was not in our calendar but we were informed and people who had to take a decision took a decision. I am not going to debate on that. If this tour ended on a positive note it would have been a different story."

The Indian series was Atapattu's first after being officially appointed full time head coach. He compared the beginning of his two-year tenure as head coach to the start of his international cricket career.

"I see no difference to the start of my coaching career to the way I started my international cricket career," Atapattu said. "I would've liked to have started on a better note but it has not gone that way. It cannot get any worse than this I can only see myself getting better and see the good side of it from here."

Atapattu began his Test career with a pair against India at Chandigarh in 1990 and his first six Test innings comprised five ducks and a single before he was able to break the hoodoo by scoring 25 against New Zealand at Dunedin seven years later.

He went onto become one of the most successful opening batsmen the country has produced, scoring 5502 runs from 90 Tests at an average of nearly 40 and 8529 runs in ODIs.

The upcoming seven-match one-day international series against England provides Atapattu with a chance to put the record straight. He described England, even without James Anderson and Stuart Broad, as a "very competitive side".

"The ODI teams around the world come with different strategies to adapt to the new rules that are implemented. They are two huge names that have made huge impact for England.

"The bowlers they have brought on the tour are quite capable of disturbing some of the best batsmen on their day. It's about respecting the ball not the bowler. England are a very balanced and strong side and they are also trying to figure out their best 15 for the World Cup. They are going to be very competitive no doubt about it."