Our focus is on India series: Sangakkara

The Lankan Vice Captain, however, said his side would miss Vaas and Muralitharan.

The World Cup may be only six weeks away, but for Sri Lanka the focus now is to come up trumps in the four-game one day series against India that begins here on Thursday.

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"Every series is important. This series is a series in itself and our focus is on it," Lankan vice captain Kumara Sangakkara told reporters after his team's practice session here on Tuesday evening.

Sangakkara said his side would miss spin wizard Mutthiah Muralitharan and pacer Chaminda Vaas, but the absence of the two stars provides good opporunity for others to prove themselves.

Sangakkara pointed out that his team was more dependent on collective performance than on stars like Sanath Jayasurya.

"When Sanath plays, no one else comes into the picture. But every single guy is contributing and everyone is important," he said.

Sangakkara refused to attach any importance to his team's 1-6 loss to India in the ODI series in 2005. "It is long gone, he said.