Kevin Pietersen believes facing Muttiah Muralitharan will be the toughest challenge he has faced from a spin bowler – including Shane Warne.

England’s Test series against Sri Lanka begins on Saturday in Muralitharan’s home city of Kandy, with the spinner needing five wickets to overtake Warne’s record Test wickets total of 708.

Pietersen has had considerable success against both men, but thinks Muralitharan’s variety makes him a more difficult opponent. ““They are both assassins. Both champions. Both geniuses,” said Pietersen. “It is just a pleasure to face them and hopefully try to get the better of them.

“The difference is Muralitharan spins the ball both ways and is harder to pick; he is a lot harder challenge because of the way he spins it both ways with a pretty similar action.”

The England batsman admits he doesn’t have the measure of Muralitharan, despite hitting two hundreds in the drawn series against Sri Lanka last year. “Can I pick him? The more you face Muralitharan the more you start to pick him,” he said. “But I am not going to say I pick Muralitharan.

“Everybody thought I did last year but I only picked him 70-80 per cent of the time. The more you play him the easier it becomes, as with any bowler. It is just a case of trying to spend some time in the middle and get through your first 20 balls.”

The Hampshire batsman spent some vital moments at the crease in the five-wicket victory over a Sri Lanka Cricket President's XI this week, scoring 59 runs in the second innings. He appears well prepared to face Muralitharan’s attacks. “These are his conditions; it is definitely going to spin a lot more.

“I have thought about how to counter it and if it works it works, if it doesn’t work it doesn’t work,” he added. “But I am going out there being as confident in my preparation as I can be, as I always am.”

Pietersen is certain spin will be hugely significant in the series, as England bid to emulate the victory they achieved in Sri Lanka in 2001. “Spin will play a big part, so will the powers of concentration, especially in this weather,” said Pietersen. “We also saw the other day it is important to attack with the new ball, we attacked pretty well and bowled a side out for 81.

“You have to attack for the first 10 overs, then do a holding job in the mid overs before the spinners play a huge part, concentrating on being as patient as they can be.”

Focus is going to be vital, but difficult to achieve after news of two bombings and multiple fatalities, near where the team had been staying for a fortnight, reached the team.

“It definitely caused concern among the players but we have got to concentrate on the cricket,” said Pietersen. “It is never nice to hear of casualties and the way people were killed yesterday in Colombo. Our hearts go out to their families but it is a case of ensuring we concentrate on what we have to do out here.

“We had a meeting this morning and have been told our circle is pretty secure so we have been told to concentrate on what we are paid to do.”