On the eve of the final of second Asian Test Championship, here at Lahore, both Waqar Younis and Sanath Jayasuriya sounded confident of their team's prospects. Speaking to CricInfo briefly, here is what they had to say on the match and their expectations.

Waqar Younis:

On the depletion caused by the absence of Wasim Akram and Saeed Anwar:
Well, since both Akram and Anwar's fitness problems were persisting, we are forced to look at other options. Fortunately we've good replacements who we felt needed to be tried out anyway.

On whether he was wary of Murali:
Well, which side in the world wouldn't be? All teams are afraid of him; he creates that pressure. But Murali is just one bowler in their attack, and we're not really losing any sleep over him.

On the prospects of Pakistan retaining the title:
We've a good, balanced outfit, which is good enough to defend the title. We really want to do well

On the side he's going to play:
I would rather not divulge that.

On whether he would go in with a pace battery of four:
It's quite likely that we would play four pacers, with Shoaib Malik batting at the top of the order.

Sanath Jayasuriya:

On his side's desire to win:
We have done very well recently, and we obviously want to maintain that. We want to keep on winning. If we win this Test, there is also the incentive of emerging as Asian champions; we'd put up our best show to win here.
Actually, in recent months both teams have played good cricket. I believe it will be a very exciting game.

On whether his main weapon, off-spinner Muralitharan, would be blunted by the green top turf:
Well, I'm not worried. Murali is of crucial importance to us; he is our leading wicket-taker. But our other bowlers are also doing well. We have depth in bowling, because quite a few our batsmen have all-round skills. The pitch has grass and bounce and our seamers would exploit that.

On whether he was concerned about security:
Well, we do not have any security worries. I have said this before and I would say it again that we're here to play cricket. We're not really concerned about security. We're relaxed, and would give off our best.

On India's non-participation:
It's unfortunate and disappointing that India isn't taking part, but the show must go on.

© CricInfo Ltd