He is the most talked about player ahead of the WorldTwenty20 final but for Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, the explosiveChris Gayle is "just another player in a very good West Indies team".
"We never went after individual players. We have triedto control things the way we can control. He (Gayle) is just another player ina very good West Indies team. We have to have our focus on the entireteam," Jayawardene replied instantly when questioned on how he is thinkingof tackling the Gayle threat.
For Jayawardene, number crunching is not his calling as hebelieves that performing on the day is important.
"Records and numbers are all there but what's importantis how you perform and need to react to situations on the day."
Gayle, who has been aggressively tweeting before every WestIndies match had commented, "Sorry Sri Lanka, but we will win thefinal" after the semifinal win over Australia. The Lankan skipper wascertainly not amused.
"When somebody says something like that, is thepressure on us or on him?" he countered.
"I don't know how to react to that. Probably thepressure is on him when he has said something like that."
Having lost all the previous three finals that he has been apart of, Jayawardene doesn't want to think too far ahead of himself.
"It always goes back to that. Going into finals isfantastic and we don't take it as a negative thing," said Jayawardene.
"We don't think too far ahead of ourselves. We don'twant to go back in history and see how to overcome this. We'll try and back ourability in what we've done in this tournament.
Other then that, I don't know how you can approach afinal," Jayawardene said.
A gentleman that he is, Jayawardene was all praise for theWest Indies team for having made it to the finals.
"You've got to admire them (WI), they've got somequality players. Like any other team, they have strengths and weaknesses andthey play to that.
"They've controlled those better, so deservingly thetwo best teams so far are in the final. We are the two in-form teams and haveplayed some good cricket."
The skipper refused to be drawn into a comparison as towhich among the two spin attacks will be more potent.
"Both teams have good spinners, the names matter butit's about delivering on the day," Jayawardene stated.
"We are quite confident with the bowlers we have gotand what they have done so far in the tournament. The surfaces have been prettysimilar in the last 10 days or so, and I don't see it being thatdifferent."
The skipper did agree that the Caribbeans had a great timewith the willow yesterday.
"I think they had a ball with the bat last night,"said Jayawardene with a smile.
"It just one of those days when everything was hittingthe middle of the bat and the Aussies struggled. But it's on how you perform onthe day, how you execute a game plan that matters and we need to react to thosesituations. It's a great challenge to have as a cricketer, especially in aWorld Cup final."