*Official* Pakistan in Sri Lanka

[Faisal1985]

There are murmurs out there that Shoaib Malik’s place in the side is in jeopardy. He’s going through a rough patch and now has to compete with MoYo in the middle order. I think he may be given a shot as an opener, though Khurram Manzoor and Salman Butt both scored in the 80’s in the practice match so that may not be the plan of action anymore. I think it would be a bad move to play Malik as an opener anyway. I think Pakistan need to stick with a specialist opener and for now keep finding room in the middle order for Malik.

Malik must stay. But Misbah now a days feels like a bit over rated.


My prediction. Mohammad Aamir will be a hit for Pakistan. He is young energetic, has pace and he shows good control over it.

 

[Xuhaib]

Malik must stay. But Misbah now a days feels like a bit over rated.


My prediction. Mohammad Aamir will be a hit for Pakistan. He is young energetic, has pace and he shows good control over it.

Aamir should not be bowling 20+ overs a day in this SL weather or the Zahid story will get repeated again.I would go for Rauf over him.

 

[Faisal1985]

Aamir should not be bowling 20+ overs a day in this SL weather or the Zahid story will get repeated again.I would go for Rauf over him.

Who said Fast bowling was a walk in the park! You have to bowl in the toughest conditions to turn out to be an above average bowler. He will learn a great deal by playing these tests and in these conditions. Its the job of the captain to look after his bowler's well being on the field. He will be fine.

 

[Xuhaib]

Who said Fast bowling was a walk in the park! You have to bowl in the toughest conditions to turn out to be an above average bowler. He will learn a great deal by playing these tests and in these conditions. Its the job of the captain to look after his bowler's well being on the field. He will be fine.

Yeah but asking to be the 2nd spearhead at this age in these conditions is just asking for trouble. I would prefer if we handle him with more care, in November Pak is touring NZL with Asif back this would be the best opportunity to introduce him to test cricket the conditions would be ideal for fast bowling and main pressure will be taken by Gul and Asif which would allow him to ease in to test cricket.

 

[Faisal1985]

Yeah but asking to be the 2nd spearhead at this age in these conditions is just asking for trouble. I would prefer if we handle him with more care, in November Pak is touring NZL with Asif back this would be the best opportunity to introduce him to test cricket the conditions would be ideal for fast bowling and main pressure will be taken by Gul and Asif which would allow him to ease in to test cricket.

I agree this might end up being a harsh start to Test Cricket for him. But thats the way Pakistani bowlers are made or lost for that matter. Moreover we have Razzaq as another seam option. I don't think there will be a load of pressure on Aamir as a bowler because he is debutant and Razzaq can join hands with Gul as well. I just can't wait for this kid to succeed. He looks very promising. Rauf is not as pacey as Aamir and that might cost Pakistan because we already have a Medium fast bowler in Razzaq. In my personal opinion Gul and Aamir's pace will be quite handy for Srilankan Tail.

 

[Fusion]

Practice match drawn. So MoYo, as can be expected, was rusty in his return outing. With Razzaq, Malik, MoYo, Misbah, Alam, and Iqbal all fighting for a place in the side (along with Younis whose spot is guaranteed), it would be interesting to see the final lineup.

 

[Beleg]

^

you reckon moyo isn't guranteed?

should be yousuf, younis, misbah, alam/malik and akmal.

 

[Fusion]

^

you reckon moyo isn't guranteed?

should be yousuf, younis, misbah, alam/malik and akmal.

It’s a really tricky lineup to compose. I want to go with both Ajmal and Keneria and 3 seamers because I don’t want Gul/Aamir to have a heavy load. If I do that, then Razzaq must play at the expense of Malik/Alam/Misbah. I also want 2 specialist openers so Malik can’t be slotted there. In the end, I come up with this:

Butt
Manzoor
Malik
Younis
Yousaf
Akmal
Razzaq
Gul
Aamir
Ajmal
Kaneria


I don’t know if I really like this lineup, but that’s what I get if I want 5 bowlers.

 

[Furball]

What's the format for this tour? 2 Tests, 5 ODIs, 2 T20Is?

 

[HMas]

What's the format for this tour? 2 Tests, 5 ODIs, 2 T20Is?

3 tests, 5 odis & 1 20/20

 

[Fusion]

3 tests, 5 odis & 1 20/20

Sat Jul 4 - Wed Jul 8
10:00 local | 04:30 GMT 1st Test - Sri Lanka v Pakistan
Galle International Stadium

Sun Jul 12 - Thu Jul 16
10:00 local | 04:30 GMT 2nd Test - Sri Lanka v Pakistan
P Sara Oval, Colombo

Mon Jul 20 - Fri Jul 24
10:00 local | 04:30 GMT 3rd Test - Sri Lanka v Pakistan
Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo

Mon Jul 27
10:00 local | 04:30 GMT TBC v Pakistanis
Welagedara Stadium, Kurunegala

Thu Jul 30
10:00 local | 04:30 GMT 1st ODI - Sri Lanka v Pakistan
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Sat Aug 1
10:00 local | 04:30 GMT 2nd ODI - Sri Lanka v Pakistan
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Mon Aug 3
10:00 local | 04:30 GMT 3rd ODI - Sri Lanka v Pakistan
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Fri Aug 7
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT 4th ODI - Sri Lanka v Pakistan
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Sun Aug 9
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT 5th ODI - Sri Lanka v Pakistan
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Wed Aug 12
19:00 local | 13:30 GMT Only T20I - Sri Lanka v Pakistan
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

 

[TT Boy]

Real shame Afridi didn't fancy the tests. The amount of drift he was getting in England, his control and the opposition’s inability to pick his googly was remarkable. He made Gibbs and a good player of spin in AB look stupid.

Feel Pak will struggle to get 20 wickets with an attack of Gul, Kid, Kaneria, Razzaq and Malik.

 

[Xuhaib]

Real shame Afridi didn't fancy the tests. The amount of drift he was getting in England, his control and the opposition’s inability to pick his googly was remarkable. He made Gibbs and a good player of spin in AB look stupid.

Feel Pak will struggle to get 20 wickets with an attack of Gul, Kid, Kaneria, Razzaq and Malik.

Yeah but I think they are good enough to do one out of three games now it remains to be seen whether the batting clicks in that game or not.

 

[Faisal1985]

Real shame Afridi didn't fancy the tests. The amount of drift he was getting in England, his control and the opposition’s inability to pick his googly was remarkable. He made Gibbs and a good player of spin in AB look stupid.

Feel Pak will struggle to get 20 wickets with an attack of Gul, Kid, Kaneria, Razzaq and Malik.

Missed Ajmal there................or is he the "kid"..........mind u AB looked uncomfortable against him too.

 

[Faisal1985]

Yeah but I think they are good enough to do one out of three games now it remains to be seen whether the batting clicks in that game or not.

I agree.... my major concern is with the batting as well.

 

[Kensashi]

Not very good news, guys. Its been raining pretty frequently in Galle and quite a bit here in Colombo.

SLC tried to shift the 1st test out of Galle but TajTV didn't want them to...

 

[Faisal1985]

Test starts in what 40-48 hours, any hope for a change in weather....?

 

[Kensashi]

Test starts in what 40-48 hours, any hope for a change in weather....?

its monsoon season. Not sure about Galle but in Colombo the rains have so far been heavy in the late evening and pretty light and short during the afternoons, so Colombo might see only a little interruption.

Hope it doesn't get any worse!

Thunderstorms to be expected in Galle all throughout the test match.

 

[Faisal1985]

its monsoon season. Not sure about Galle but in Colombo the rains have so far been heavy in the late evening and pretty light and short during the afternoons, so Colombo might see only a little interruption.

Hope it doesn't get any worse!

Thunderstorms to be expected in Galle all throughout the test match.

Good God! oh well............might be good for seamers..............but certainly bad news for batsmen.

 

[Furball]

Have just noticed that Vaas isn't in the squad?

What's the deal there? Injured, put out to pasture or something else?