Too much has been made of our selection

What is all the fuss about? © Getty Images

During the last few days there as been a lot written and spoken in the media regarding our selection for the Australia. Much of the analysis has been ill-informed, offered without great thought or deep understanding of this Sri Lanka team. Consequently, many of the critics have been wide of the mark in their conclusions.

Although I respect that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and know that criticism is part-and-parcel of everyday life I'm amazed that it stirred up so much controversy. Nevertheless, I question whether double standards are being applied here by some pundits.

Nearly all top cricket playing nations have rotational policies that they put into action during heavily congested schedules. Australia, for example, regularly rest their senior players in group matches once their qualification (and sometimes even before) has been confirmed. What then is the difference between resting players in the CB Series or the World Cup?

Will some of the television "experts" now calling for ICC intervention do the same when Ricky Ponting or Stephen Fleming or Graeme Smith next rests a strike bowler? I doubt it. Some of the critics appear to think that the Australia game was our most important game in the tournament. Why - just because we were playing Australia? That's nonsense. The simple fact was it was the least important game of our World Cup. Even the Bermuda game was more important.

We are here to win the World Cup. Everything we do is focused on that goal. That was our focus before the tournament, and that is our ultimate focus right now. We don't care about morale-boosting victories. We do care deeply, though, about making sure we are completely ready and properly prepared when each crunch game comes along. The Australia game was not a crunch game. The semi-final against New Zealand on April 24 is.

We don't need reassurance. Australia are a good team, but they are far from unbeatable. Don't forget, they've already lost two one-day tournaments this year

We rested Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga in the best interests of the individuals and the team. We had to make sure they were at peak fitness and completely rested when we start on 24th morning in Jamaica. All three have minor niggles that benefited from not playing. We are now confident that they will be in the best possible physical shape they could be for the semi-finals. It was a team decision and a decision we're entirely comfortable with.

Furthermore, Murali and Vaasy are the lynchpins of our bowling attack. They have been for years and they remain so in this tournament - albeit with good support from Malinga, Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof. True, Vaas and Murali may have played many games against Australia during their long careers, but Sri Lanka have not played Australia in the last 14 months - a long time in international cricket - and only six members of Australia's current team played in that match in Brisbane. Giving Australia's batsmen a free look-in was not to our advantage if we meet again.

The argument against resting key players centres on the need to keep up so-called winning momentum. When self-belief is fragile momentum often gets one through. However, our confidence is high. We all know that we have the ability to beat Australia, and we all have the self-belief and mental toughness to perform in crunch situations. We don't need reassurance. Australia are a good team, but they are far from unbeatable. Don't forget, they've already lost two one-day tournaments this year.

The fact is that even without our three best bowlers on the sidelines we know we could and should have defeated Australia. Unfortunately, despite winning a useful toss, our batting let us down and we were punished for mistakes at the start and end of our innings. You can't afford to do that against the Aussies. Had we scored 30-40 more runs - as we should have done - Australia would have struggled. All the players understood our tactics and we went into that game looking for a win.

'I'm looking forward to making a mark with the bat for after a decent start in the group matches I have had a fairly indifferent run in the Super Eights' © AFP

I am sure the debate will rumble on. We, though, are concentrating on the next challenge against New Zealand, a tough opponent for a semi-final. We have battled against each other many times in the recent past and there are no secrets between us anymore. We have bared our capabilities and both the sides know that the result will depend entirely on execution on the day. The side that turns up and believes in itself most will win.

We are not making any assumptions about the conditions. We have a team that can perform in a variety of conditions and the suggestion that we'd prefer a slower surface like St Lucia is wide of the mark. We have batsmen that love the ball coming onto the bat and the days are gone when we were reliant on an army of slow bowlers. In any case, our best bowler, Murali, relishes extra bounce.

The truth is that we don't yet know how the pitches will play in Jamaica or St Lucia. The groundstaff will have been working hard, I am sure, to prepare a good surface. Whatever they prepare we have to be ready and, as has been the case throughout the tournament, we'll then have to adapt quickly.

On a personal note, I'm looking forward to making a mark with the bat for after a decent start in the group matches I have had a fairly indifferent run in the Super Eights. However, I have been happy with my form so it is just a case of converting form into runs. I am confident of doing that against New Zealand.