KARACHI, Dec 27 Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has welcomed the confirmation of Sri Lanka`s tour here next month and said his team was preparing for close contests in the Test and one-day series.

“We have not played much international cricket this year and have gone without a Test. But we are still looking forward to doing well against Sri Lanka,” Malik, who is expected to be retained as captain for the series, said today.

He said it would be an engrossing series with Pakistan batsmen gearing up to tackle Sri Lanka`s spin duo — Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis.

“Mendis has been very impressive and has formed a formidable pair with Muralitharan. They troubled the Indian batsmen at home. So we know what we are going to be up against and we will prepare accordingly as they are different bowlers,” he said.

Malik added that Sri Lanka`s confirmation of the tour was a big boost for Pakistan cricket, which needed to host a team at home after a series of cancellations.

“Hopefully the series would help ease some of the concerns about security some teams have about playing in Pakistan,” Malik stated.

He said if the board retained him as skipper he would enjoy the challenge of captaining the side in Test matches once again, especially against a strong side like Sri Lanka. “We need to play competitive cricket against top teams to test ourselves,” he said.

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam also hailed the confirmation of the series pointing out that his players needed to work hard to ensure a well-fought series.

“I am happy that in the period that we have had no international cricket the board has laid lot of emphasis on domestic cricket. The participation of top players has helped raise the bar in the domestic events and it has helped the selectors to observe the players closely,” he said.

Pakistan`s top players will get back into action with the start of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy from Sunday, which is a four-day first-class competition among regional and departmental sides.

Intikhab said besides watching the players in the four-day version of the game there were also plans to have a short conditioning camp a week before the Sri Lankans arrive on Jan 20.

“The selection committee is a new one and has not seen the players up close so a short conditioning camp needs to be held,” chief selector Abdul Qadir said. The former leg-spinner made it clear that fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who played in the Pentangular Cup one-day competition, had been asked to play the Quaid-i-Azam trophy as well so that his match fitness could be tested out over longer bowling spells.—Agencies