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It's just me against the ball, says Sangakkara

Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Australia

DARWIN, Wednesday - Two successive double hundreds against international sides although not against quality opposition has made Kumar Sangakkara an indispensable commodity in the Sri Lankan Test side as they attempt to grapple with world champions Australia in two back-to-back Tests starting at the Marrara Oval here on Thursday and at Cairns on July 9.

Although the opposition may not be all that great, it is no easy task for any batsman to accumulate runs and score double hundreds at will.

Sangakkara followed his Test career best knock of 270 against a weakened Zimbabwe bowling at Bulawayo two months ago with an equally impressive innings of 203 not out against a Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI which also had Australian Test fast bowler Glenn McGrath.

"It was a satisfying knock on Australian soil especially with McGrath bowling at the other end. It was pleasing to get runs and good to have a hit against McGrath. Even though he is coming back from a long lay off he is still a quality bowler. It was nice to get a look at him before the Test match," said Sangakkara.

"The knock was a good confidence booster. It's always good to go out and bat for a long time and get a lot of runs in a practice game leading up to a Test match," Sangakkara continued.

"But looking at the quality of the opposition I think the level is going to go up sharply when we take on the Australian side. Even though there were a lot of positives I could take out of that innings it is always a fresh game, a fresh set of bowlers who are of great quality," he said.

From a left-hand batsman who has the talent and the strokes to go with it Sangakkara has often failed to deliver on many occasions when he had looked set to play a major innings.

But the two back-to-back double centuries is a sure sign that he has worked things out and bigger things can be expected from him in the near future.

Batting at no. 3 Sangakkara holds a very vital position in the Sri Lankan batting line up. It has been his ability to play shots and take on the bowling early in the innings that has seen him being reverted to that position time and again after being shifted below on several occasions.

"I've just worked on breaking down my innings. I've broken down the overs into a ball-by-ball contest rather than an over by over or session-by-session contest. I've found that it has been working well," said Sangakkara.

"I have been telling myself to relax between balls and to just concentrate on a particular ball and play it rather than play anything else. To keep my mind focussed on just spending a long time at the crease. If the runs come they will come but I need to make sure that I stay there and not give my wicket away easily."

Sangakkara said that he had not done anything major to his technique, but said: "I've always been taught to pay a lot of respect and attention to detail and technique in batting. I always make sure that my technique is tight when I practice.

I watch myself batting a lot after a game and keep trying to see whether anything's changed because when your batting well sometimes you get a bit lazy and faults creep into your game. I have not been working anything major on technique."

For 26-year-old Sangakkara who divides his time between batting high in the order and keeping wickets for his team, taking the Aussies on their home soil represents a big challenge.

"It is always a great motivation to go out there and do well against them whether it be batting, bowling or fielding. To get a hundred on the board would be a fantastic achievement. Most of the guys are looking forward to trying and doing that. Playing in Australia presents one of the biggest challenges in cricket," he said.

Sangakkara certainly has a score to settle with the Aussies.

Their bowlers found a chink in his armour and made batting a misery for him in the three Tests played back home in March. He averaged just 18.66 for his 112 runs of which his top score was only 29.

This is certainly a low-key performance for a man who has a career average of 47 from 38 Tests.

"I certainly want to put things right here," said a defiant Sangakkara. "If you are a batsman that is the mainstay of your job. You have to make sure that you contribute with runs. It's disappointing when you don't get much."

"I had a great run up in the one-day series but then in the Test matches it was a bit disappointing personally. Hopefully, I will be able to go out there and get runs for the side."

"I have been watching myself bat and chatting to a few people trying to work out my dismissals against Australia. It's always a new game and sometime mistakes can be repeated even though we try hard not to.

It's just a case of me against the ball and playing the bowling on its merit,' he said.

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