'Mahela has shown good leadership qualities' - Vaas

'We are more united now and each player knows his responsibility in the team' - Chaminda Vaas is all praise for Mahela Jayawardene's captaincy © Getty Images

Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lanka's strike bowler, said the difference between the team that lost the one-day and Test series to India last season and the current one was that the present squad was more united under Mahela Jayawardene.

"Mahela has shown good leadership qualities. We are more united now and each player knows his responsibility in the team while in the past things were left to the other one [(to complete]," said Vaas. ahead of Sri Lanka's match against the West Indies.

Both Sri Lanka and West Indies have already qualified for the second stage of the ten-team event. The other two teams in the preliminary stage, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, have already been eliminated.

Vaas felt the qualifying stage of the tournament had provided good match practice for the teams. "They have been good practice games for the task ahead. The game against the West Indies would be a good match. We have played well [so far].".