Dimuth Karunaratne wanted his team to leave the World Cup on a winning note. The Sri Lankan captain is aware of the challenges in a tussle involving India at Headingley on Saturday. But hope floats and he spoke at length with the media here on Friday. Excerpts.

Immediate goal: We have to win the game to end up in the fifth or sixth position. That’s our plan and we intend to do our best. We are playing on the same track that was used in the match between the West Indies and Afghanistan. Hopefully we can get some turn.

Stifling Rohit & company: We have a plan for Rohit (Sharma), Virat (Kohli) and all in the top six but we have to execute those plans well. They are dangerous and once they get set, they will get big runs. We will try to restrict them and hopefully get Rohit early.

Inherent strengths: If you take the batting, Avishka Fernando is playing really well and he is one of the future stars. And in the bowling, (Lasith) Malinga and Nuwan Pradeep have done well. These are the positive points I will take from this tournament.

Weak domestic cricket: In Sri Lanka, we have only one domestic season and when the players come through to the international level, there is a huge gap. We have to play more and allow our cricketers to go and play in the Indian Premier League, Big Bash League and county cricket.

These are the things I am expecting from the cricket board and hopefully they will take a good decision and make us strong at the domestic level and produce good players for the future.