Jayawardene keen to focus on batting

KARACHI (Reuters) - Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said a desire to concentrate on his batting was one of the main reasons for his decision to step down as skipper after the series against Pakistan.

"I felt it was right time to let it go and concentrate more on my cricket and take on another challenge which is to be a much better cricketer than who I am right now," Jayawardene told a news conference on Sunday.

"I feel that I have three four good years of batting which I could contribute to the team particularly with all the experience that I have gained," he said.

"I use my experience in the right direction, I could actually contribute much more than I am contributing right now."

Jayawardene, 31, has played in 100 tests and 299 one-day internationals.

"I am hoping it will be a motivation for my team to try to win this series for me, my last as captain," he said.

Sri Lanka beat Pakistan 2-1 in a one-day series last month and returned to the country on Sunday after losing 4-1 to India in a limited-overs series.

"We have to wait and see how their approach is going to be but for us it's going to be a great challenge coming back to Pakistan and playing a test series," Jayawardene said.

The first of two tests starts on Saturday.