No complaints on tight Asia Cup schedule: Mahela

The Sri Lankan skipper said he was surprised that Pakistan had chosen to field first on the new pitch on Sunday.

“At the toss I even asked Malik if he was comfortable with his decision to field first after winning the toss. But we definitely would have batted first as it was a new pitch,” he said after his side’s 64-run victory over Pakistan.

Jayawardene said he would have opted to bat first had he won the toss as his side has two quality spinners in Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis and other supporting bowlers.

“We have four attacking bowlers and that gives us a lot of options. It is one reason for our success.”

Praising Mendis, who took four wickets to set up the win, he said, “He has a lot of potential and talent and he is a quick learner. He has been at our spinners academy for the last one year. We thought now was the right time to blood him so that he can play along with Murali and learn from him.”