Sri Lanka wary of "temperamental" Pakistan

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COLOMBO (AP): Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara is wary of a Pakistan comeback in the final test of the series, acknowledging the visitors' capacity for sharp form turnarounds.

Sri Lanka has an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three match series, with the final test starting Monday.

Pakistan will be both trying to recoup some pride with a win, and to gain some momentum heading into the upcoming one-day series.

``Pakistan has always been temperamental as a side,'' Sangakkara said Sunday. ``That's what the greatest dangers about them. We don't know what to expect when we walk out on to the field.

``The thought always at the back of our heads is that 'these guys are such a great side, just watch out, one of these days they are going to come back and come back hard at you.'''

``We've just got to be ready and if that happens we absorb the pressure.''

Pakistan lost the first two tests after being in winning positions but collapsing dramatically.

``Our mental status is simple,'' Pakistan captain Younis Khan said. ``Everybody wants to win, everybody knows that if we play to our potential we deliver all the time.''

Khan said he agreed with Sangakkara's opinion that Pakistan team is unpredictable and worried about its tendency to collapse.

``It might become our habit. So we must stop these things specially in test cricket because in one-dayers or Twenty20 it's managable. But not in test cricket.''

The test will be the last in the career of 35-year-old Sri Lanka seamer Chaminda Vaas.

``Let me officially announce my retirement from test cricket after playing the third test match against Pakistan. I wish to continue playing ODIs and T20 till the World Cup,'' Vaas told reporters Sunday.

Making his debut against Pakistan in 1994, Vaas went on to take 354 wickets in 110 tests, becoming the second highest wicket taker for Sri Lanka after Muttiah Muralitharan's 770.

In his later years Vaas tuned his batting to become a useful allrounder with more than 3,000 test runs.

``It's a sad day when such a great player goes out of test cricket,'' Sangakkara said. ``He has thought long and hard.''

``Vaasy has got a great part to play in our one-day set up until the World Cup.''

Sangakkara praised Vaas' success, mostly bowling on subcontinent pitches that are unresponsive to seam bowling.

``Where spinners do well Vaasy had reveled,'' Sangakkara said.

``No matter who replaces Vaasy in the lineup they will take years and years to reach the standards that he has. May be they never will.

``He's a true champion, probably the only Sri Lankan fast bowler we can call a true legend of the game.''

Squads: Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Malinda Warnapura, Tharanga Paranavitana, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Anjelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedera, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Rangana Herath, Kaushal Silva, Suranga Lakmal and Dammika Prasad.

Pakistan: Younis Khan (captain), Salman Butt, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamir, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rauf, Fawad Alam and Faisal Iqbal.

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