Sri Lanka skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan has said his team will concentrate on winning a first Test match in South Africa amid the players' salaries being delayed for nine months
Sri Lanka skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan has said his team will concentrate on winning a first Test match in South Africa amid the players' salaries being delayed for nine months.
"We are focused on cricket now. We just keep it to management to handle everything. At the moment we are worried about cricket. I can't follow this (the unpaid salaries)," Sport 24quoted Dilshan, as saying.
Sri Lanka cricket board had vowed to provide atleast a part of players' salaries before the beginning of the Test match on December 15.
Dilshan said he expected the board to pay at least 50 percent of the money on Friday.
He said green pitch in the SuperSport Park would likely favour South Africa's pace bowlers and make the tournament even tougher for Sri Lanka.
"The pitch looks good for the fast bowlers. We've played before in Centurion but this is a totally different wicket. The fast bowlers can really enjoy this wicket. Whatever wicket is given to us, we will try to play our best cricket... We will try to take the challenge," Dilshan said.
"We have to believe that everyone can do their job for the team. We heard everyone say South Africa is favourite for this series, but if we can play our brand of cricket we can beat any team in any conditions," he added.
Sri Lanka have never won a Test in seven previous matches in South Africa, and their case appears to be more complicated in the wake of key players battling injuries.
Key batsman Kumar Sangakkara is yet to prove his fitness after splitting the webbing on his right hand in a practice match Sri Lankan pace bowler Nuwan Pradeep has been ruled out of the entire tour due to hamstring injury.
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