Having taken an unassailable lead in the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Friday said India were doing very well as a team and there was no need to single out any individual performance ahead of the final encounter of the rubber.
India registered their third victory over Sri Lanka at Colombo on Tuesday to clinch the series, but their performance has rather been inconsistent.
Indian batsmen have failed to convert their good starts on occasions and have most often than not being accused of throwing away their wickets. The only exception has been Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. Rohit Sharma in particular has been a 'thorn in the eye' with repeated failures.
"We are doing well (as a team) and as such there is no need to single out any individual. Everybody is backing each other well," Ashwin said.
Indian bowlers have also been inconsistent and have been found guilty of bowling at both sides of the wicket.
The 25-year-old, however, is particularly concerned about their bowling at the death.
"Some work is going on bowling at the death. It does happen that bowlers do go for runs, we need to find different lengths at different venues," Ashwin pointed out. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan vice-captain Angelo Mathews said that the home team is looking to end their campaign on a high after already losing the series to India.
"We hope to give our best to try and win tomorrow's match. We have not fared well in the series and obviously that is not something to be proud of," Mathews said.
Asked whether the team will make any changes for Saturday's encounter, the all-rounder said, "Since the series has already been decided we are not sure if we would give other players in the squad a chance."
Asked whether they will be experimenting with the batting order, Mathews replied in the negative. Sri Lankan batsmen in the absence of Kumar Sangakkara, who did bulk of the scoring for his team before being forced out of the tournament with an injury, failed to put up a winning total on board in the fourth ODI.
"I don't think there was a need to make changes in the batting order. If we changed anything, the roles assigned to individuals would change. That will not be good for the team," he said.
