The home team was all set for a knock outside the indoor nets last afternoon adjacent to the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground but rain started to fall heavily and forced them into the inside nets.

The Sri Lankan's though were hardly bothered with the rain interruption and even the likes of Kumar Sangakkara was very peripherally concerned about the weather condition.

Instead his focus was firmly on the series that will start with the first Test at the same venue tomorrow.

"Still there is one more day in hand and you know the sky always looks gloomy during this season and on most of the occasions it becomes clear within a short time. There is a very good covering system in this venue, so I am hopeful," said the Sri Lanka vice-captain.

The situation however could be handy for the wicketkeeper cum batsman as he just came home a few days back after playing county cricket for Warwickshire.

"It was a fantastic experience to play county cricket for a good side and I enjoyed everything there. Rain sometimes hampered play there too but it was restarted again and you know the condition is also altogether different from any part of the world. Yes, the experience can be handy as I also scored some runs," informed Sangakkara.

The 29-year left-handed batsman, who has played 64 Tests and 200 ODIs, still believes that there is no alternative to hard work to become a good player.

"I always believe in hard work. There is nothing miraculous behind the success of Sri Lanka cricket, rather it was hard work. Talent is important but without hard work you cannot achieve anything," observed the soft-spoken cricketer.

Praising Bangladesh's improvement at this level, Sangakkara said that the Tigers have to increase their pace of development.

"Bangladesh is improving side but they should increase the pace. You have talented cricketers but they have to prove their ability and you know without hard work it is not possible. I think there is a lack of consistency in their performance," suggested the experienced Lankan cricketer, who has a lot of contribution in his team's recent past success.

He emphasised on a blend of experienced and young cricketers to make a competitive team at the highest level.

"Good mixture of experienced and young players is important to make a team strong. I think I have played with number of good teams under different captains and it was a tremendous experience to play with such a good team in last World Cup. Sri Lanka has been playing good cricket for the last two, three years and I think we could manage a good team with experience and young cricketers in the side," he said.

"I don't have any complains about the workload with the dual job of wicket keeping and batting. The main thing is whether I enjoy the job or not and everybody should take responsibility," he said.

"Wicketkeeping is a tedious and hard job but as long as I am fit I don't feel any problem with the two duties," he added.

"Partnership is always important whether it is in bowling and batting. I have a very good understanding with Mahela (Jaywabardene) and we have played lot of games together from the Under-15 level. We always complement each other while batting at the middle," said Sangakkara when asked about his partnership with his skipper with whom he had made a record 624-run third wicket partnership against South Africa at the SSC.

"I will try my best to score as much as I can in the series. And definitely our target is to win all the matches," he warned.