Sri Lanka lost their first ever home ODI series against India but their skipper Mahela Jayawardene said his side could not be nailed for lacking fighting spirit.
Jayawardene even went on to say that his boys were better than the Indians when it comes to handling pressure situation.
"I don't think we could be criticised for lacking fighting spirit. Even when we were losing we were fighting. I think the Indians tend to probably give up a bit too easily," Jayawardene said.
"We want to develop in our team that we don't give up to the last minute. You can go through tough situations and tend to give in quite easily. We have to keep having belief in your ability," he said.
The Lankan skipper said his team wanted to win the last game for the home crowd, which were supporting them in all matches even after losing the series to India.
"Losing the series was very disappointing. But the huge crowd had supported us throughout the series and they turned up (for the last match) as well. So we had to give them something back to show the character of the team," he said.
Jayawardene said he was happy with the bench strength Sri Lanka had in the fast bowling department.
"I think (Nuwan) Kulasekara and Thilana Tushara have been consistent for us. Lasith (Malinga) has started bowling and (Fervez) Mahroof is 100 per cent fit while Dilhara (Fernando) looks very good after the injury. So it is a good competition in the team which is good," he said.
Jayawardene paid tribute to old war horse Chaminda Vaas, who reached the milestone of getting 400 ODI wickets in the series, for the contribution to Lankan cricket.
"I think Vaas is still great. He is doing the job for us. We have a good balance now. In different conditions we can bowl different bowlers. Sometimes we might give Vaas a game, the other guy a game depending on the conditions. So that could be interesting."
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Images: India v Sri Lanka, 5th ODI
On the Sri Lankan ODI team's performance during the last year, the captain said it had its highs and lows.
"Not consistent. We would rather have consistency going all throughout the year. Yes, we won the Asia Cup which was a great achievement. But between that we had our ups and downs. In the West Indies, against England and now against India, we did not do well not that we were outplayed.
"We were not finishing the crucial games. That is something we have to work hard on. We have picked the guys who can fight it out in tough situations and what kind of combinations that we go with. The future looks good for us," he signed off.
