Lion Kings on the prowl

Tips to tackle Muttiah Muralitharan

•Mahela: He is a tough guy and always wants to do well. It is always exciting to play against him and it will be interesting. There will be some smiles on and off the field. He has taken my wicket a few times and I guess he will be more attacking on Indian pitches.

•Sangakkara: He is a special bowler and has to be given special attention. I played him once in a domestic game a long time ago but mostly we have played him only in the nets. It will be exciting to bat against him in a competition. It is one thing to read him and completely another to play him. He has a sharp brain and the batsman has to adjust his game accordingly.

On skipper Yuvraj and coach Moody

•Mahela: We have known Yuvraj for a long time; he is an exciting player. The way he approaches the game is commendable and he reads the game well. This time though he has a lot of senior players in the side and we will try to assist him and hope he does his best. Tom knows our game well and I am sure he will use both of us accordingly in this format.

•Sangakkara: Yuvraj has already shown in the Twenty20 World Cup what kind of a player he is. He has to marshal his resources well and I guess with a lot of senior players around him, I am sure he will not have any kind of problem. Tom Moody had a very good stint in Sri Lanka. He is an innovative coach.

On mix-and-match teams

•Mahela: Definitely, it will be exciting to play with players from different backgrounds. Most of the guys have played against each other and I guess the more we play with each other, we will get a chance to understand the game from different aspects.

•Sangakkara: I am really looking forward to playing with players like Brett Lee, James Hopes and Irfan Pathan. We played with each other in the World Series and I see no problem in playing together. It would hardly take a couple of days before we start performing as a team.