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*Official* Pakistan in Sri Lanka

Kensashi

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
Have just noticed that Vaas isn't in the squad?

What's the deal there? Injured, put out to pasture or something else?
The selectors aren't keen on picking him. They want to blood some youngsters, but he deserves a place in the Test team.

Murali is injured and out of the first test, so Sri Lanka has a very inexperienced bowling lineup and even then Vaas hasn't been picked.

With no Malinga and no Murali, I'd expect Pakistan to win the first test pretty easily, maybe even the series!
 

TT Boy

Hall of Fame Member
The selectors aren't keen on picking him. They want to blood some youngsters, but he deserves a place in the Test team.

Murali is injured and out of the first test, so Sri Lanka has a very inexperienced bowling lineup and even then Vaas hasn't been picked.

With no Malinga and no Murali, I'd expect Pakistan to win the first test pretty easily, maybe even the series!
Why isn't he playing?

Both attacks look poor now. Thushara, Kulasekera, Mathews the 3rd seamer, Mendis of course but I don't rate Herath as anything more than serviceable.
 

TT Boy

Hall of Fame Member
Missed Ajmal there................or is he the "kid"..........mind u AB looked uncomfortable against him too.
Aamer.

Be hard for Pak to go on with Ajmal. That would mean you would have four guys (Gul, Kaneria, Ajmal, Aamer) + Butt who can't bat.
 

Kensashi

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
Why isn't he playing?


Both attacks look poor now. Thushara, Kulasekera, Mathews the 3rd seamer, Mendis of course but I don't rate Herath as anything more than serviceable.
The selectors don't consider him to be fit enough to play test cricket, as yet. He's just got off a year long injury, so its a wise move, though he is going to Australia to play for Tazzie in the Big Bash.

Herath is absolutely useless but the new guy, Suraj Mohamed is pretty decent. Hopefully he gets picked instead. He did quite well in the warmup. Overall i consider the pakistani bowling attack to be much stronger, especially with Gul in there!

Dhammika Prasad is the best seamer in the squad, he's going to be an automatic selection and it'll be between Thushara, Kulasekara and Lakmal for the 2nd spot.
 
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Uppercut

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Why isn't he playing?

Both attacks look poor now. Thushara, Kulasekera, Mathews the 3rd seamer, Mendis of course but I don't rate Herath as anything more than serviceable.
He's still not considered ready for long-form cricket after his extremely serious injury.

Out of that attack, even Mendis hasn't caused Pakistan too much trouble for whatever reason. Looks like another bore-draw series to me, although Sri Lanka are pretty good as pitches go, so we'll see.
 

Woodster

International Captain
Looking forward to this series actually, how Pakistan compete in Test cricket having played so little in recent times, can Mo Yousuf find the form he had before he took up his ICL contract, and how will SL cope without Murali, something they will have to get used to on a permanent basis in the not too distant future.

From what I understand, Chaminda Vaas can no longer compete in all formats of the game and consequently he is being looked after so he can be a big part of the World Cup campaign, according to Sangakkara. Probably a good way of saying that they want to look at the youngsters for the future as Vaas is no spring chicken.

Shame Malinga is not there, and as some of you have commented on, Gul is definitely the man to watch out for.
 

Faisal1985

International Vice-Captain
Murali out........and Malinga unfit for tests as well.......Pak has an edge .........hopefully they can counter Mendis........
 

Woodster

International Captain
With no Malinga and no Murali, I'd expect Pakistan to win the first test pretty easily, maybe even the series!
Not sure I share your lack of faith in the Sri Lankan line-up. Will be interesting how Sangakkara organises his troops, and in the long term puts his stamp on the side, but in the short term I expect his batting and that of his team-mates Jayawardene, Samaraweera, Dilshan and potentially debutant Kaushal Silva,should they opt for a specialist keeper, to ensure SL are competitive at the least. Certainly I hope they select Silva as keeper, Sangakkara will have plenty on his plate without keeping, and would prefer Dilshan to concentrate on his improving Test record.

Angelo Mathews enhanced his reputation in the World T20, and I would like to see him in the side at some point, perhaps just not yet.

With Mendis in the side, SL will be a threat in home conditions, despite the Pakistanis having played him well so far, this time he will be the leader of attack, the man Sanga will look to get the vital breakthroughs, interesting how he copes with such pressures.

The pitch may hold the key to this opening Test. I understand there's been a lot of rain around, and the fact there will be be a Test is quite something. Whether it's a slow-turner resulting in a high scoring draw or a track with a little more life, it may dictate the level of excitement in this opening Test.
 

Faisal1985

International Vice-Captain
Considering Malinga and Murali out, it wouldn't have been a bad choice to bring in Vaas. Mendis is good, but considering that Pakistan has played him well, what is SL's plan B? Vaas is certainly a wicket taking bowler.

Angelo Mathews is very promising, and this will be his real test....i still think Vaas would have added more stability in the SL bowling line up.
 

killagee

Cricket Spectator
What about Abdur Rauf..... Is he good or jus like Faisal Iqbal ( In the Team coz his uncle is miadad??) anything like that :p

Hope Danish kaneria does well with his googly :)


and what about the wether tomorrow?
 
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Woodster

International Captain
Considering Malinga and Murali out, it wouldn't have been a bad choice to bring in Vaas. Mendis is good, but considering that Pakistan has played him well, what is SL's plan B? Vaas is certainly a wicket taking bowler.

Angelo Mathews is very promising, and this will be his real test....i still think Vaas would have added more stability in the SL bowling line up.
Yes I agree that the presence of Vaas would have added some much needed experience and quality in the bowling attack, however, it seems a decision has been reached with regards how the SL management are going to manage his future, presumably before they were aware of such injury concerns. Now they are refusing to go back on what was decided and perhaps contradict certain things that were said between Sanga and Vaas. It's just unfortunate certain players will be missing, but exciting opportunites are presented to the incumbents.
 

Faisal1985

International Vice-Captain
Yes I agree that the presence of Vaas would have added some much needed experience and quality in the bowling attack, however, it seems a decision has been reached with regards how the SL management are going to manage his future, presumably before they were aware of such injury concerns. Now they are refusing to go back on what was decided and perhaps contradict certain things that were said between Sanga and Vaas. It's just unfortunate certain players will be missing, but exciting opportunites are presented to the incumbents.
If they are "saving" Vaas then it makes a lot of sense, because this test series could very well turn into a boring run fest.........
 

Woodster

International Captain
If they are "saving" Vaas then it makes a lot of sense, because this test series could very well turn into a boring run fest.........
Yes, but I really hope the pitches produced here are of such a quality that makes run scoring so easy. With so much talk of reducing Tests to 4 days, it is because of such boring run-fests that needs something to quicken and spice the game up.

I like 5 day Tests but then I am not prone to changes where the Test format is concerned, and so I am really hoping this series has its fair share of spills and thrills, which will require responsive pitches.
 

Xuhaib

International Coach
What about Abdur Rauf..... Is he good or jus like Faisal Iqbal ( In the Team coz his uncle is miadad??) anything like that :p

Hope Danish kaneria does well with his googly :)


and what about the wether tomorrow?
good 4 day bowler would pick him over Amir atm.
 

Kensashi

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
Apparently Vaas wants to concentrate on making the ODI team so thats why he's not been picked for the series. He's contemplating retirement from test cricket.

Gotta say, its going to be even tougher trying to get into the ODI team for him.
 

AaronK

State Regular
Pakistan team
Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal†, , Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan*, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamer

Pakistani team according to cricinfo commentary box lol
 

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