Adapting fast will be key - Mahela Jayawardene

We left Colombo in the early hours on Thursday morning and I am now in Dhaka. The guys are all looking forward to the series and the big challenge ahead is adapting to the conditions as fast as possible. We only have a week until the first Test.

The home team will always try to make use of the home advantage - the conditions, the pitches and spectator support. The challenge facing any touring side is to try and adjust to them as quickly as possible and get an early advantage over the home side. We failed to do that on the tour to Zimbabwe last month where, although we managed to beat them by a margin of 5-0, our batting was not convincing.

We toured Bangladesh only once before in 2006 and we know from that experience that we cannot take Bangladesh lightly. That tour - my first as captain - included some tough cricket and plenty of anxious moments for us. We lost one of the ODI's and also had to fight hard to win the Test series 2-0.

Two years on and Bangladesh have developed as a team. Yes, they have lost some experienced players to the Indian Cricket League, but the youngsters who have come through as a result have shown plenty of talent. Guys like Tamin Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Mehrab Hossain and Shakib al Hasan look like good prospects for the future.

Our task then is to start strongly. We need to set ourselves a standard to maintain throughout the series. We have to put Bangladesh under pressure from the word go. We should not put ourselves under pressure, but concentrate completely on our processes. The end result will take care of itself if we are all focused on our specific roles.

The loss of Ajantha (Mendis) is naturally disappointing. He was a star in his first Test series against India - which seems like a long time ago now. However, individuals don't win matches, team performances win matches. His absence will be felt, but I don't think it will affect us a great deal. Rangana (Herath), his replacement, is also a quality spinner.

On a personal note I will naturally be looking to get some big runs. I was disappointed to have not scored more heavily against Zimbabwe and I worked hard on my return to Sri Lanka to get back into the groove. My form in domestic cricket was good with a decent 65 the other day so I am confident ahead of the series.

Just read on Cricinfo that we might be going to Pakistan as India's government has cancelled the tour. Getting some more Test cricket in February will be great for the team so as players we'll be happy to go to Pakistan. It means that we'll be playing around 12 Tests in 2009 which is perfect I think in terms of ensuring Test cricket's future.