*Official* Pakistan in Sri Lanka

[AaronK]

hopefully Misbah honeymoon will be over and he gets shown the door, Malik to be next on list if he does not get his act together.

I can't believe..you guys are calling for droping Misbah.. didn't he made 56 last test match first innings..face it all pakistani batsmans failed past couple of innings.. that means u want to drop all of them...

I frankly refuse to believe Malik is a better batsman than Misbah so if he isn't going to bowl, he should be on the chopping block first.

It's clear they're going to give Fawad a run opening though. They wouldn't have picked him there if they didn't think it was a legitimate option and he's had a more than decent start to it. I just hope it doesn't ruin him; forcing a young, talented middle order batsman with a brilliant First Class record to open the batting is a great way to destroy his confidence at Test level until he's 30.

it is not something that hasn't been done before.. one of the best pakistani opener Saeed anwar was a middle order batsman..I am not saying fawad is as good as Saeed.. but it is worth trying.. maybe Pakistan will find another saeed anwar here..

 

[Green_Flag]

I agree with Aaron, there are many other examples Majid Khan, Mohsin Khan, Ramiz Raja, none of them were originally openers but the recognised themselves as good opening batsmen. I think its a break-through for Fawad who was struggling to find a position in the team despite his good fc performances. He scored a century in debut and he needs encouragment

 

[AaronK]

a really confident start by Fawad.. lets see how far he can go..

 

[NUFAN]

Fawad Alam is the new Mathew Sinclair IMO.

He'll be posting on CW by 2019.

 

[Athlai]

Wow what a man.

 

[Dissector]

Haven't been following the game much but this is an amazing comeback by Pakistan. You would almost have to say they are favourites to win from here. Clearly Sri Lanka are missing Murali enormously and the Pak batsmen appear to be the first at least in tests to have solved the Mendis mystery.

 

[TT Boy]

Mendis the new Narendra Hirwani?

 

[Naumaan]

wishing fawad alam a double hundred
never liked him in t20, but i really like him now in test cricket, they shouldn't overuse & then kick him
give him proper chance to grow up as a batsman

 

[Naumaan]

well mendis isn't world class, he's like sohail tanveer, once you know what he's all about, you can play him easily

 

[TT Boy]

Captain gets out to the opener, Paranavitana.

 

[Naumaan]

Younis is out, outrageous shot to get out, that's what cricinfo says

 

[TT Boy]

Reverse-swept a leg side full toss.

 

[wfdu_ben91]

That Fawad Alam is a gun batsman... He always had a good record and it was puzzling why Pakistan never selected him. Too bad his gotta monobrow though.

 

[Nishan]

Obviously Mendis will be effective against NZ and countires he hasnt played still but only for 1 series so his carrier may end up like Hirwani. He is ineffective because he hardly turns the bowl, good players will learn with time

 

[Naumaan]

Reverse-swept a leg side full toss.

what can i say, he reverse swept murali when he was on 299

 

[Naumaan]

Pakistan 294/2 at lunch
Fawad alam 164*
Muhammad Yousaf 6*
Pakistan lead by 144 & i guess they need atleast 156 more runs

 

[Xuhaib]

Younis you bastard
game dead even, the pitch seems like a road now Sanga, Jaya and Thilan can chase even 350 on this track.

 

[Naumaan]

Younis you bastard
game dead even, the pitch seems like a road now Sanga, Jaya and Thilan can chase even 350 on this track.

aren't u so harsh?

 

[Xuhaib]

I frankly refuse to believe Malik is a better batsman than Misbah so if he isn't going to bowl, he should be on the chopping block first.

It's clear they're going to give Fawad a run opening though. They wouldn't have picked him there if they didn't think it was a legitimate option and he's had a more than decent start to it. I just hope it doesn't ruin him; forcing a young, talented middle order batsman with a brilliant First Class record to open the batting is a great way to destroy his confidence at Test level until he's 30.

Misbah needs to be in profilic form to justify his place, because at best we will get 2 more years out of him. Essentially wasting all this time on him, will get minimal return since he will retire and we are foregoing the chance for a youngster to utilize those 2 years to get better in the long run.

I dont like Malik but we have invested quite a lot of time on him now and just getting rid of him will not serve the purpose. He is 27 and with a 25 test match exp so ideally he should be hitting his peak. If he can average 38-40 for the next five years that will just do the job, nobody expects him to take the mental from Younis-Yousuf.

 

[Xuhaib]

aren't u so harsh?

I am a bad man.