November 07, 2007	Wednesday	Shawwal 25, 1428

MELBOURNE, Nov 6: Sri Lanka would not emulate India’s ultra-aggressive tactics against Australia during their upcoming two-Test series Down Under, spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan has said.

The off-spinner and opening bowler Chaminda Vaas said the tourists would focus on playing smart, positive cricket in the true spirit of the game during the rubber starting on Thursday.

Muralitharan, who needs nine wickets to become the most successful Test bowler upstaging Shane Warne’s world record of 708, told a Brisbane lunch that Sri Lanka had no designs on following the Indian example of ‘fighting fire with fire’ during the recent series in India, which the Aussies won 4-2.

“(We want) to play decent cricket and not (approach it) like the Indians,” Muralitharan said at Queensland Cricket’s annual Test match luncheon, The Age reported on Tuesday.

“We’d like to play our game,” he said adding “The challenge is not to think about the end results.”

Recognized as the team which played the game in the best spirit at the ICC’s annual awards in September, Sri Lanka have a fine on-field reputation.

Vaas said they would ensure their reputation is retained but would not take a backward step against the hosts.

“We are not Indians. We are not going to play like the Indians did,” he said.

“But when it comes to cricket you have to play aggressive five-day cricket,” he said.“We are here to play good cricket and play smart cricket, and we (received the spirit of the game award) so we want to play good cricket and prove we can do something,” he added.—Agencies