Having Mickey with us is big advantage, says Karunaratne

Sri Lankan Test skipper Dimuth Karunaratne feels the presence of former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur in their camp will be a "big advantage" when his side take on Azhar Ali's men in the two-Test series starting here on Wednesday.

Arthur, who was appointed the head coach of Sri Lanka last week, held the same position in Pakistan from 2016 until the end of this year's ODI World Cup in July.

"Mickey is with us and previously he was the coach of the Pakistan team as well so it is a positive thing for us that he knows the Pakistan team very closely and that has given us a lot of confidence for this series," Karunaratne said on the eve of the match.

However, the skipper said the onus will be on the Sri Lankan players to execute their plans properly.

"His presence is a big advantage to us as he knows each and every player very closely. How they think. How they prepare. But we have to do things right in the middle and implement our plans properly."