India vs Sri Lanka: Thisara Perera feels team is well-prepared and will do something special in familiar conditions

Visakhapatnam: Smarting from Rohit Sharma’s onslaught, Sri Lanka skipper Thisara Perera on Saturday said they were well prepared for the ODI series decider against India and would look to do “something special” in conditions similar to those back home. The islanders’ three-match ODI series against hosts India is tied 1-1. “Definitely, Vizag is similar to Sri Lanka when it comes to weather and stuff. Mohali and Dharamsala were completely different. It was a total different story. We are well prepared. Here I hope we will be able to do something special as this is something similar to what we find at home,” he told reporters on the eve of the match. [caption id=“attachment_4261707” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera. AP[/caption] Perera said the team had a couple of training sessions and prepared well and they were taking it like just another game. “We had a good couple of training sessions. We are well prepared for the game ahead,” he added. About India being under pressure ahead of the final game, he said it is the best team in the world and could be under some sort of pressure. “From our side we take it as just another game. Not thinking too much as to whether the series is at stake or whatever. We want to play just another game. India are the best team in the world and I am sure they will be under some sort of pressure,” the Lanka skipper added. Perera said the team management had not finalised the playing XI as yet and said they would take a call after looking at the wicket on Sunday. “We will take a look at the wicket and stick to a 12-man squad and decide tomorrow,” he said. He played down the defeat in Mohali and the onslaught from India captain Rohit Sharma, backing his bowlers to bounce back. “Our bowling didn’t click and that was disappointing. But these things happen in cricket. We want to put that game aside and bounce back. We have some plans for Rohit and for Shikhar Dhawan and now it is up to our bowlers to execute those plans. We will see what happens tomorrow,” Perera said. “Mentally we are all prepared. That is why I said that these things happen in cricket. We will not repeat these mistakes. First match we won, then they bounced back and we want to put our mistakes to rest and bounce back again,” the big-hitting all-rounder said. As for the pitch, he said, it looked a bit dry and expected it to be on the slower side. “Took a look at the pitch, it looks to me a bit dry. Past matches there has been only one high scoring game. Today and yesterday there’s been good sunshine and I am sure there will be turn and the wicket will be slow,” the Lanka captain said. He said the plan was to take early wickets and capitalise on the batting line-up that was without Virat Kohli. It worked in Dharamsala but didn’t in Mohali and he expected the bowlers to deliver the goods in Sunday’s game. “If you see we took two early wickets in Dharamsala and that enabled us to put more pressure on the Indian side. Their middle and lower order all of a sudden was under pressure. Our plan is to take early wickets in the first 20 overs and that will help us to put pressure on the opposition,” Perera said. “We had a good chat yesterday. These things happen. Those two guys (Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep) bowled really well in the first game, but failed to execute those plans in the second game. We have spoken about it and I am pretty certain they will deliver in tomorrow’s game,” he added.