Mahela not worried about form

Sri Lanka's outgoing captain Mahela Jayawardene has said that he is not worried about his form with the bat.

Jayawardene, who will step down as Sri Lanna captain after the two-Test series against Pakistan, said he does not have the runs to show but he was hitting the ball well.

"Generally we tend to evaluate a batsman's form by the runs he scores. But to me I see how he is playing the ball and I have been comfortable in the last few months although the runs have not flowed from the bat," Jayawardene told a news conference.

"I just want to go out there tomorrow and try to execute my batting plans properly and get the runs that matter. But I would not say I am worried," he said.

Under pressure to come out of the prolonged bad patch, Jayawardene said he would be treating the series just like any other series.

Jayawardene has to come to terms to quitting captaincy

Besides, Jayawardene said he had come to terms with the fact that he would quit captaincy after this series.

"It is really not on my mind now that I am going to leave the captaincy after the series. The other players are now reconciled with my decision and we are ready for the match," he said.

He said he enjoyed leading his country and would love to go out on a winning note. "But I think the time for this talk about giving me a good farewell as captain is over. It is going to be a tough challenge out there and we need to perform as a team and get our basics right to do well," he said.

Jayawardene felt it really did not matter that Pakistan has not played a Test for the last 14 months.

"They are always a dangerous side and they have a new captain in Younis Khan who is a very seasoned player. So it is going to be a hard series and we are not underestimating them at all," he said.

Sri Lanka have not lost a Test series in Pakistan since 1995 but their last two Test defeats have both come at the National Stadium here.

Jayawardene said Sri Lanka had not decided about their team combination as yet but insisted they were not under any pressure because of the recent one-day series defeat at home to India .

"Look that is one-day cricket and our Test side is very different so this is a new ball game and we are looking ahead to a good match," he added.