13 March,2009 03:57 PM IST | | PTI
Newly appointed captain Kumar Sangakkara has said his role as a leader got a special dimension to work on Sri Lankan players' mental framework following the recent terror attack on them in Lahore.
The 31-year-old said every one had to fire up before the Twenty20 World Cup in England and the focus was not just on cricketing skills but "group mentality".
"With what the team has undergone in the last two weeks there is a special significance and dimension to that (captain's) responsibility," he said after taking over as the captain from Mahela Jayawardene.
"It is not just about our cricketing skill now, but our group mentality and the need to ensure everyone is firing for the World Twenty20 in England," he said.
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"We really have to sit down and have a very honest and open discussion about whether what has happened will change the players in any way, to talk about their families and whether we can take something good from what has happened in Lahore," he told 'Al Jazeera'.
The veteran of 80 Tests and 246 one-day internationals was among the six players injured in the Lahore attack and was hospitalised after the 25-member team was flown home last Wednesday.
"My immediate focus is on the ICC World Twenty20 and as we prepare for this and the year ahead I will be stressing on individual responsibility the players must take on to improve and develop their games," Sangakkara said.
The wicket-keeper batsman said his prime target was to get his players mentally and physically fit as they take field in the SLC Inter Provincial Twenty20 tournament which begins on March 25.
Sangakkara will have as 36-year-old spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan as his deputy. Muralitharan is the world's leading Test and one-day wicket-taker and only the second player after Sachin Tendulkar to hold two cricketing World records.
"Sangakkara said Muralitharan's inspirational leadership and vast experience, coupled with his great integrity and complete trustworthiness, made him the ideal choice as vice captain and is very much pleased that he accepted the responsibility," the Daily Telegraph said.
