LAHORE, Oct 18: Pakistan skipper Inzamamul Haq said on Monday that his team was eager to take on Sri Lanka in the two-Test series and was hopeful of winning a home Test series against the Islanders after lapse of nine years.

Talking to journalists at Qadhafi Stadium on Monday before leaving for Faisalabad to play the first Test starting from Wednesday, Inzamam remarked that the players were capable of beating Sri Lankans after losing the tri-nation final against the Islanders.

Pakistan lost the tri-nation final by 119 runs in Lahore last week after winning both the league matches by huge margins.

Inzamam pointed out that it was a golden opportunity for Pakistan to beat Sri Lanka since the visitors were without ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. The spin magician has taken 49 wickets in seven Tests against Pakistan.

Pakistan captain was disappointed with the performance of pacemen Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami and hoped the duo would put the tri-nation failures behind them in helping the team to pile pressure on Sri Lankans to help win the Test series.