Sri Lanka determined to do well despite various issues

Perth: Sri Lanka vice-captain Angelo Matthews today said his side is determined to shrug off the issues, plaguing his side as they concentrate on exploiting the poor form of the Indians when they open their tri-series campaign, here tomorrow.

Tillakaratne Dilshan was sacked as captain and Geoff Marsh lost his job as coach after the series in South Africa last month. Mahela Jayawardene once again took over the captaincy and South African Graham Ford was appointed coach.

On the financial part, the cricketers still have been unpaid for nearly 10 months.

"There have been a few hiccups. It's a bit of an unfortunate situation. We were not consulted (by the Sri Lankan board) on the coach and the captain. But we are here to play cricket. Our job is to concentrate on our cricket and that's all we can do," said Matthews.

The young all-rounder has followed India's performance in the Test series against Australia and believes their poor form is a plus for them. India were whitewashed 4-0 in the series.

"They haven't played well in Tests and that's a plus point for us which we can take into the game. But it's a different team when it comes to ODIs. They are current world champions. They could come really hard at us."

Dilshan, 35, took over captaincy from Kumar Sangakkara after the 2011 World Cup finals last April. He could win only one Test out of the 11 he captained though it was an important win, their first ever over South Africa in Durban.

Dilshan also struggled with the bat, averaging just 20 in the one-day format. Sri Lanka lost Test and one-day series against England, Australia, Pakistan and South Africa.