England take inspiration from India

England captain Andrew Strauss has advised his teammates to take inspiration from India's thrilling win over Australia when they take on Sri Lanka in the last quarter-final here today

England take inspiration from India

England captain Andrew Strauss has advised his teammates to take inspiration from India's thrilling win over Australia when they take on Sri Lanka in the last quarter-final here today.

Andrew Strauss

Strauss expected the clash with Kumar Sangakkara's men to be as closely contested as the one India won by five wickets in Ahmedabad on Thursday and said his team had it in them to slug it out for a victory. "As we saw with the India-Australia game yesterday (Thursday), it's going to be a very tight game. Hopefully, we can draw inspiration from that match," Strauss said.

"I think it's going to fluctuate on a couple of key individuals putting up big performances. We have got to make sure that we are the ones who put up those performances. Every member of our squad is keyed in on the job."
England won three tight games, lost to two lesser teams, and tied against India before entering the knockout stages.

When asked if his side was expecting to provide so much drama in the ongoing World Cup, Strauss said: "To be honest, we weren't expecting to create such high drama. We take a lot of confidence from the fact that we've beaten some major teams, and that holds us in very good stead for this quarter-final."

Strauss reckons the 'nothing to lose' mentality has helped his side overcome stiff challenges in the past, and will work in their favour again amidst a frantic atmosphere at Premadasa Stadium today. "At this stage, we are very excited. We have absolutely nothing to lose. All we need to do is go out there and win a game of cricket. If we don't, then we are boarding on a flight back home. This sort of mindset has served us well in the past," he said.

Meanwhile, Strauss came down heavily on former England captain Geoffrey Boycott for questioning all-rounder Michael Yardy's premature exit from the World Cup. Yardy was suffering from depression and flew back home from Colombo on Thursday.

"His (Boycott's) comments showed a fundamental misunderstanding of this whole issue. We are very disappointed.u00a0 It's a case of lack of information, and lack of being informed about the situation," Strauss said.
"I knew he (Yardy) was suffering from depression, but I found out about him wanting to leave the squad only one night before he actually left.

"Cricketing ability has absolutely nothing to do with Yardy going back home. He wasn't picked in the previous game not because of lack of form. He wasn't left out because of depression," said Strauss.