'We want to win it for Murali' - Atapattu

Sri Lanka have decided to dedicate the two-Test series against Australia to Muttiah Muralitharan, who pulled out of the series due to personal reasons. Marvan Atapattu, the Sri Lankan captain, was confident that the others would shoulder more responsibility and make up for Murali's absence.

"Murali has taken 527 wickets," said Atapattu, "and when we are on the field he takes most of the burden, bowling 40 to 50 overs in an innings. Playing without him is difficult and unusual. The whole team will miss him. But it is a big challenge for everyone of us to come out with better performances. This is one occasion where we can show [our] gratitude towards him by performing well."

He added, "Hopefully there will be another spinner who will grab his slot and perform well." Atapattu felt that Rangana Herath, the left-arm spinner, and Upul Chandana, the legspinner, had been bowling well recently. "If we get a turning track I think these two should be able to deliver the goods."

Murali's absence will undoubtedly put extra pressure on Chaminda Vaas. But Atapattu hoped for contributions from all quarters and said, "If the others can chip in they can reduce Vaas's workload. It is their turn to shoulder the bowling with Vaas and show what they are capable of."

Though Sri Lanka suffered a whitewash when the two teams met last, in March this year, Atapattu took some consolation from the fact that the matches were closely contested. "They were fantastic. But having said that, we weren't too far away from beating them. We know where we went wrong and we hope to put things right this time around. It will be nice if we can get one back on Australia."

Sri Lanka will be playing their matches in Darwin and Cairns - two venues which hosted their debuts Tests last season during the Australia-Bangladesh series. They will, however, get a taste of the conditions when they take on Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI in a four-day game beginning on June 24. Atapattu expected the pitches to be flat and good for batting. "The conditions, we are told, is somewhat similar to this part of the world."

Though Atapattu revealed that the batsmen likely to play in the Test series will get a chance to feature in the practice game, he wasn't too keen on overworking his main bowlers. "We have a lot of cricket coming up after the Australia series. With this group of bowlers we've got to manage them well for them to perform for us for a long time without injuries. If any bowler deserves a go before the Test it is Dilhara [Fernando]."

Fernando, 24, has been out of international cricket since December last year after suffering a stress fracture on his back. He recovered from the injury and made the tour to Zimbabwe last month but couldn't fined a place for the Tests.

Talking about the return of Romesh Kaluwitharana, Atapattu said that it gave the team more options in the middle order. "Kalu still has some cricket left in him, so we need to get the best out of him before he retires. We wanted to have the option in the middle order of Kalu or Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara) to keep wickets. Kalu, Russell Arnold and Chandana will fight for the No. 7 spot."

Atapattu defended the decision to play Sangakkara as a specialist batsman without utilising his wicketkeeping abilities. "Our concern with Sanga is that by asking him to keep wicket, are we going to get the maximum out of him at No. 3? Personally Sanga is very happy to keep wicket. But we must look in terms of getting the maximum out of him as a batsman. In that context having Kalu in the squad covers us. Kalu can score runs fast and if he can hold the tail together for us that will be great."

Considering Murali's decision to skip the tour, Atapattu was confident of less controversy. "We are not too worried about what the Australian media will throw at us this time. I don't see that as a problem. This is where experience counts off the field. Cricket is not just an on-field game."