Atapattu's return will strengthen team, says Moody

Ahmedabad, Oct 9 (UNI) Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody today said former skipper Marvan Atapattu's return would strengthen the team.

''I have enjoyed working with both of them, the're both effective captains. Now they are together in the lineup, we are looking to exploit their experience,'' Moody said at a pre-match media briefing at the Sardar Patel stadium here.

He stressed on the need to avoid complacency against Zimbabwe.

''We are taking this game as seriously as ever, the opposition is irrelevant to us. Zimbabwe had a start that the we are not hoping for, but tomorrow's game would be a different game.'' Speaking on the changes the Lankan team has gone through since the 6-1 loss to India, Moody said, ''We had a number of young players then, they have gained an year of experience at the top level. Now we have a nice blend of experience in Mahela, Jayasuriya, Atapattu and Sangakkara along with the youngsters who have developed technically, mentally and physically.'' Captain Mahela Jayawardene said they would be looking at how to improve from the last match.

''We've improved a lot over the last six months, but we have got to continue the process,'' he said, adding that fielding has got a lot to do with their revival.

''We've always been a very good fielding side, if you look at it that aspect has played a big role in our success for the least 10 years.

''We've worked hard and when Tom came on it was his priority as well we're looking at how to improve from the last match. We have got an awareness about new fielding techniques, throwing, collecting and other areas. That's the way forward.'' He added that in the last match they were guilty of conceding a lot of extras and we will address this issue in tomorrow's match.

Jayawardene also stressed that their aim is to win all the three qualifying matches first and then think about the next stage.

''At the moment we are concentrating on winning all our qualifying matches,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe coach Kevin Curran admitted that they did not get their basics right in yesterday's match when they were bundled out for a meager 85 runs.

''ll the players know that they did not play good cricket yesterday and are keen to make amends. We had a talk yesterday and have pinpointed certain areas and we are trying to correct them,'' he said.

On the state of the game back in Zimbabwe, he said that the Zimbabwe Cricket Union is trying to build a pool of about 60 players.

''We are also looking at tours from the 'A' teams for four-day matches which would give our players the much needed exposure and experience playing at the first class level.

This would make their graduation into the next level much easier,'' Curran added.

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