Two Asian countries in final for first time:

Keep heads down and play - Sangakkara

Chris DHAMBARAGE reporting from India

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara urged the entire nation to rally around his team as they began their final preparations in an attempt to regain the ICC Cricket World Cup title after a lapse of 15 years.

Sri Lanka the 1996 champions and runners up in 2007 will take on their Asian rivals India in the final on tomorrow in the day night encounter at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India.

In fact this is the first time that two Asian countries are clashing in the final in the history of the tournament. This will also be India’s third appearance in a final having emerged champions in 1983.

Sangakkara stated that they are just one match away from reaping the benefits of their decision to devote more than two years to prepare for the important World Cup.

“It means a lot to us, this is what we planned for over two years once we finished the 2007 tournament where we missed the great opportunity.

Cricket has always been the panacea that healed wounds in Sri Lanka”. “Whenever cricket was played, it seemed as the life was back to normal. We carried that responsibility with us whenever we played. There are times when the talk of the Indian Premier League, the money involved and everything. But let me tell you, we take pride in playing for our country.”

“If you go to the dressing room, you will see that every player has a flag on their seat.”

The Sri Lankan captain also warned his teammates about complacency as they still have some hard work to be done in the next couple of days. “We haven`t won the final, we are in the final. So we need to keep our heads down and keep playing good cricket and understand that there is lot of work to do and to play in the biggest match of our lives.”

The success in this tournament has proved that Sri Lanka had all-round strength and match winners in key positions. “If you don`t have bowlers, you don`t have confidence. You can be the best captain in the world but you are not going to win anything much.” The champions of this flagship event of the game would receive a cash award of USD 3 million, while the runners-up would take home USD 1.5 million out of the total prize pool of USD 12.52 million.

Sri Lanka have played four One Day Internationals at this venue, including a league match in this tournament against New Zealand. Out of those four, they have won two and lost two.