'To get a hundred would be a fantastic achievement'

Two successive double hundreds against international opposition have made Kumar Sangakkara an indispensable element in the Sri Lankan cricket team. Though his big knocks came against teams that were somewhat lacking in quality, Sangakkara has a key role to play as Sri Lanka attempt to grapple with Australia in two back-to-back Tests in Darwin and Cairns

Sangakkara followed his Test-best innings of 270 against weakened Zimbabwe bowling at Bulawayo two months ago with an equally impressive innings of 203 not out against a Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI that included Glenn McGrath, who was looking for much-needed match practice after the ankle injury that kept him out for much of the last year.

"It was a satisfying knock on Australian soil, especially with McGrath bowling at the other end," said Sangakkara. "It was pleasing to get runs and good to have a hit against McGrath. Even though he is coming back from a long lay off he is still a quality bowler. It was nice to get a look at him before the Test match."

With the first Test starting on Thursday, Sangakkara was happy to have run into form in Australia. "The knock was a good confidence booster," he said. "It's always good to go out and bat for a long time and get a lot of runs in a practice game leading up to a Test match."

He was quite sure, however, that a full-strength Australian line-up would pose an entirely different challenge. "Looking at the quality of the opposition, I think the level is going to go up sharply when we take on the Australian side," he said. "Even though there were a lot of positives I could take out of that innings, it is always a fresh game, a fresh set of bowlers who are of great quality."

For a batsman who has the talent and the strokes to go with it, the left-handed Sangakkara has often failed to deliver on many occasions when he had appeared set to play a major innings. But the two back-to-back double-centuries are a sign that he has worked things out, and that bigger things can be expected from him in the near future.

Batting at No. 3, Sangakkara holds a very vital position in the Sri Lankan batting line-up. It has been his ability to play shots and take on the bowling early in the innings that has seen him being persisted with, after having dropped down the order on several occasions. "I've just worked on breaking down my innings," he said. "I've broken down the overs into a ball-by-ball contest rather than an over-by-over or session-by-session contest. I've found that it has been working well.

"I have been telling myself to relax between balls and to just concentrate on a particular ball and play it," he added. "To keep my mind focussed on just spending a long time at the crease. If the runs come they will come but I need to make sure that I stay there and not give my wicket away easily."

Sangakkara said that he had not made any major changes to his technique. "I've always been taught to pay a lot of respect and attention to detail and technique in batting," he said. "I always make sure that my technique is tight when I practice. I watch myself batting a lot after a game and keep trying to see whether anything's changed. When you're batting well, sometimes you get a bit lazy and faults creep into your game."

For the 26-year-old Sangakkara, who divides his time between batting high in the order and keeping wickets, taking on the Aussies on their own turf represents a big challenge. "It is always a great motivation to go out there and do well against them whether it be batting, bowling or fielding. To get a hundred on the board would be a fantastic achievement," he said. "Most of the guys are looking forward to trying and doing that. Playing in Australia presents one of the biggest challenges in cricket."

He certainly has a score to settle with the Australians. Their bowlers found a chink in his armour and made batting a misery for him in the three Tests played in Sri Lanka in March. He averaged just 18.66 for his 112 runs, with a top score of 29 - a low-key performance for a man who has a career average of 47 from 38 Tests.

"I certainly want to put things right here," he said defiantly. "If you are a batsman, you have to make sure that you contribute with runs. It's disappointing when you don't get much. I had a great run in the one-day series but then in the Test matches, it was a bit disappointing personally. Hopefully, I will be able to go out there and get runs for the side."

He won't be taking anything for granted when he walks out to face the likes of Jason Gillespie and McGrath. "I have been watching myself bat and chatting to a few people trying to work out my dismissals against Australia," he said. "It's always a new game and sometimes mistakes can be repeated even though we try hard not to. It's just a case of me against the ball and playing the bowling on its merit."