Afridi hails 'aggressive'approach

by S M August 17, 2009

"At the start I told them we are champions and we should play like champions," Shahid Afridi said.

"They responded very well and did a marvellous job. This victory is very important for us.

"We lost the Test series and the one-day series so there was nothing else to win but this game."

"Yes I like captaining in this format of the game," he said.

"It needs a positive effort and that's exactly what the guys brought to the field.

"In twenty20, the body language is very important.

"I told them at the start that I'm an aggressive captain and I wanted an aggressive approach from them as well.

"So the batting was good and we were sharp in the field as well and it was a good effort all around."

"I think we have a great bowling attack as well," he said.

"The fast bowlers did really well at the start and set up nicely for Saeed Ajmal.

"I think they have a lot of potential."

"We tried and trying is good, but at the end of the day you got to go out there and win it," Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said.

"We gave them 20 to 25 runs too many on this track.

"But going forward from here, we've really got to up the standard of our fielding.

"As for the batting, we got a good start and a couple of partnerships in the middle but then again we fell away at the end.

Sangakkara added: "We would have liked to chase something between 155 and 160, but the last time India played here they chased 170 plus and won," he said.

"We would have done the same had we applied ourselves a little more.

"But we shouldn't get disheartened from this. We have to learn from this and we've got to trust the players that we select to go out there and do the job."

"New Zealand would be a new series a new kind of team," Sangakkara said.

"We've just got build on what we've done well and learn from our mistakes.

"We've got to get our mindset back to Test cricket, everyone should be keen to do well and up their standards and work hard."