Jayawardene predicts an exciting series

Colombo, Jul 16 (UNI) Predicting some really high quality action during the upcoming home series against India, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said playing the 'Men in Blue' has always been an enjoyable experience.

''Every time we've played them, there has been some really good cricket played by both teams, who possess some good quality players,'' Jayawardene said. ''I am sure that the public will have a great series to watch." ''We thoroughly enjoy playing India, at home or away,'' he added.

''It's always been a tough challenge. There is good rivalry with our neighbours.'' Recalling his past feats against India, the talented middle-order batsman was confident of playing some good innings this time also.

''Personally I have a couple of milestones against India. I made my debut against them and also scored my first double-hundred against them. It's a pretty good team for me to play against,'' Jayawardene stated.

When asked whether the Lankans have some special plans in mind for Sachin Tendulkar, the skipper said his team's focus was on winning the Test series and not on stopping Tendulkar from getting the 172 runs needed to overtake Brian Lara as the highest run-scorer.

''I don't think we will try that hard not to give him the record.

We are going to treat Sachin in the same manner as anybody else in the Indian camp,'' he said. ''It will be a great milestone if he achieves it, but our focus will be on the series.'' UNI XC AB UCS1854