Lot to prove for Pakistan, Sri Lanka (Preview)

Barring Pakistan, the last few months have been really tough for teams from the subcontinent- as India was getting hammered in England; Sri Lanka lost a home series to Australia and Bangladesh were beaten by lower ranked Zimbabwe. Even though, Pakistan have been hit by all kinds of controversies in the recent past, the side has managed to put in some good performances on the cricket field. Infact, they have remained unbeaten in the last four Test Series under the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq.

After sharing honors in the Caribbean, Pakistan made short work of Zimbabwe in the one-off Test and now they face Sri Lanka in the ‘home’ series to be played in the Gulf since conditions aren’t yet conducive for international cricket in Pakistan.

Post Shahid Afridi’s departure from the national scene, Pakistan under Misbah looks like a well settled unit. Hafeez is the star performer at the top, Younis along with the skipper provide the much needed stability in the middle order while youngsters like Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali have impressed. Even though, Waqar Younis quit as the national coach after the Zimbabwe tour, Misbah’s calming presence has ensured that the eleven men on the field play as a team.

On the contrary, Sri Lanka are going through a rough phase- the forgettable experience of England was followed by disappointing losses in Tests as well as the one-dayers against Australia. Under Tillakaratne Dilshan’s captaincy, Sri Lanka have struggled thus far. Actually, the team set up is lacking stability; Sri Lanka have appointed their third coach in as many Test series’.

As far as man to man comparison is concerned, Sri Lanka definitely are stronger in batting with two world class batters among their ranks. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumara Sangakkara would be the backbone of their batting while as the old firm of Misbah and Younis would play a similar role for Pakistan. It would also be interesting to see how Dilshan goes about his batting incase the skipper decides to bat down the order.

In the bowling department, Pakistan have a clear advantage. After the retirement of Muthaih Muralitharan, Sri Lanka have struggled to take twenty wickets in tests, unless they find a genuine match winning bowlers, Test victories may be hard to come by. Contrarily, Pakistan have the guile of Saeed Ajmal who can baffle even the best with his clever variations. Plus, there is the crop of pacers- Umar Gul, Wahab Raiz, and Aizaz Cheema who can be effective even on the dry Abu Dhabi track.

As things stand, the two sides looking to find a way up the ladder in the Test arena would fight hard to seize initiative on what in reality is ‘neutral’ territory.

Pakistan Squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-haq (capt), Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal (wk), Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Raiz, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan

Sri Lanka Squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (Capt), Angelo Mathews, Tharanga Paranavitana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Rangana Herath, Suraj Randiv, Chanaka Welegedara, Suranga Lakmal, Kosala Kulasekara, Dammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, Kaushal Silva (wk).