Jayawardene wants to hit India hard

Jayawardeme was in sparkling form at Chennai, with a brisk 71 © Getty Images

The in-form Mahela Jayawardene is confident that, in the limited amount of time they have had on tour, Sri Lanka have more or less stamped their authority on India for the rest of Test series. The first Test at Chennai ended in a draw with rain eventually turning out to be the winner. But Sri Lanka did well to dismiss India for their lowest ever total against them of 167, and then replied with 168 for 4 before the match ended.

Jayawardene said a positive start was vital: "When you start a three Test series the first most important thing is how you play, how you approach the game and how you stamp your authority. We did that pretty well in the first Test.

"We showed them that we can definitely bowl them out, which is very important in a Test match. Once you do that there is going to be hesitancy in the next game. We want to hit them as hard as possible so that they can't make a comeback

"We have nothing to lose in India. We haven't won a Test match nor have we done all that well here. For India, it's a lot of pressure, playing on home territory they have to do well. Every time the Indians came to Sri Lanka we have beaten them and won the series. That's a reverse psychology. We just need to put pressure on them."

Jayawardene explained the break the team had between the one-day series - which they lost 6-1 - and the Tests helped them to learn from their mistakes. "When we came to Bangalore, even though it wasn't the best of pitches, we learnt a lot. That is the most important thing.

"What we realised is that in India every venue offers us something different," he added. "In Chennai we got the advantage over the Indians. By excelling in all three departments it psychologically gave us the upper hand. We just need to focus on what we did well and continue."

Although there was much talk of the Chennai pitch, Jayawardene, who made 71 with 66 runs in boundaries on the final day, said it was not the worst pitch he had played on. "You just needed to apply yourself and try and get the exact pace of the pitch. Once you get into that rhythm it wasn't hard.

"I found that you didn't have to hit the ball that hard to get through the field. The pitch did turn a bit but it was not the turn that you couldn't play. You have to give credit to our bowlers. They bowled exceptionally well. Vaasy, Dilhara [Fernando], Murali and especially Malinga [Bandara] who came back into the team after seven years and bowled really well. We put a lot of pressure on the Indians and we didn't give them any easy runs."

For Jayawardene, who has the strokes to enrapture the spectators as he did during his near two-hour stay at the wicket at Chennai, the on-going Test series has got off on the right note for him to make a mountain of runs.

"I had a good start and I just went with the flow. I was very positive in whatever I did. I wanted to use my feet against Harbhajan [Singh] so that he didn't dominate me and it paid off. I was on top of most of the bowlers which I wanted to be at the start of a series. Everything went for me and I felt good, the timing was there. For me the wicket didn't look that hard to bat on."

"Every time before a series I have certain plans against certain bowlers which I want to apply out there. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. During the last year I have been playing really well and getting a lot of runs. My plans and my approach have been good."

Jayawardene also realises that this tour is a good opportunity for him to improve his record overseas. He says that everyone had been telling him that his track record overseas wasn't all that good, but offers a defence: "I haven't played many matches abroad. I have played a lot of my cricket at home."

The second Test starts in Delhi on Saturday.