Sri Lanka are happy not to be among the favourites to win the Champions Trophy, their captain Kumar Sangakkara said on Thursday.

Sri Lanka face South Africa, New Zealand and England in Group B, with only the hosts ranked above them in the International Cricket Council (ICC) standings.

But South Africa, India and Australia have been installed as favourites to win the second most important 50-over tournament on the cricket calendar.

"It works in our favour not to be mentioned as favourites because we will be able to operate under the radar and there will not be too much attention given to us," Sangakkara told a news conference.

"Playing on such a great stage will automatically mean teams will be out to show and highlight what they can do, and it will be all about the handling of pressure."

Sri Lanka play the opening match against South Africa in Centurion on Tuesday and are in good form while the hosts have not been in action since the World Twenty20 in June.

But Sangakkara said form would not matter when the teams take to the field for the day/night match.

"Everyone in our team is confident, but our recent wins are not going to count for anything," he said.

"Everyone here is a professional unit and whether they have played recently or not won't matter because you are always in training and up to the challenge of playing.

"It is nice to have had a bit of cricket, but the only advantage of that is that we have been competing under pressure."

Although the conditions in South Africa are generally not similar to those in Sri Lanka, Sangakkara said he was confident in his squad.

"Fast bowling is now one of our main strengths," he said. "We now have bowlers who can bowl at 140km/h-plus and they have the accuracy and firepower. Coupled with our spinners, Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan, it's an exciting time for Sri Lankan cricket."

Having already won the Twenty20 World Cup, Pakistan are targeting a second major 2009 title at the upcoming Champions Trophy despite a less-than-impressive history in the competition.

"Our past performance in Champions Trophy is not that much encouraging, but the way we have trained for this year's tournament, I'm sure we can perform well," coach Intikhab Alam told reporters on Thursday.

Pakistan have not reached the final in any of the five previous editions of the Champions Trophy — the biggest 50-over tournament behind the World Cup.

"It's a tough tournament, but we are going to South Africa with a target to win it," Alam said as the team prepared to leave for Johannesburg.

Pakistan will play two warm-up matches before taking on the West Indies in its first group game on Sept. 23.

Pakistan, which have never beaten India in a major ICC tournament, take on their neighbor and arch rival on Sept. 26 before rounding off its group matches against defending champions Australia on Sept. 29.

South Africa, New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka form the other group, with the top two teams from each qualifying for the semifinals.

India and Australia both have hit peak form ahead of the Champions Trophy. India won a triangular series over Sri Lanka and New Zealand, while Australia is on verge of whitewashing England in their 7-match one-day series.

However, Alam is not worried about the form of his group opponents. "The team which handles the pressure on the given day wins in a 50-over game," Alam said.

Captain Younis Khan is also keenly looking forward to the opportunity to finally beat India in a big tournament. "I want to change the history and win against them (India)," Khan said.

"I would enjoy a lot if we chase the target against India and beat them in a mega event. "If Pakistan team plays to its mood and potential it can beat any team."

Pakistan and England are the only teams in the eight-team competition which have not won a Champions Trophy.

Pakistan has kept faith on its experienced middle-order batsmen Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf despite a 3-2 loss in the one-day series against Sri Lanka. Former captain Javed Miandad supervised a five-day batting camp at Karachi where batsmen even trained on marble slabs to get experience on slick pitches.

Fast bowler Mohammad Asif will join the squad when his one-year doping ban ends on Sept. 22, while allrounder Rana Naved returns after severing his ties with non-sanctioned Indian Cricket League.