*Official* Pakistan in Sri Lanka 2014

[Maximas]

I can't believe this is goodbye, glad Mahela got a good send-off

 

[viriya]

Great win.. Mahela we will have a #4 spot open for you till you're 45. Just show up at SSC when you feel like it.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Need a Mahela tribute thread.

 

[Maximas]

Lakmal is what, 5 clicks faster? At test level no one really cares how quick you are unless you're really quick or really slow.

Kula is really slow

Sanga and Mathews (God, Mathews is going to love conditions that don't spin and he's so ****ing good against swing bowling) piling on the runs and giving Eranga and Prasad a license with Kula and Herath to keep the other end nailed down tight should be the very achievable plan. I give Sri Lanka a better chance of a win down here than most provided they select smart and the two big gun batsmen perform. Hopefully NZ have learned from the near miss against India that getting macho and preparing green tops backfires because otherwise Sanga and Mathews on a green top looks more sure than our batting and it closes the gap between the pace attacks...

Yeah it all depends on the batting for mine, on greentops or flat decks our bowlers will do ok, the odd inspired spell or good passage but largely mediocre and hopefully passable performances are what I expect, Sanga/Matthews and to an extent Silva are likely to carry our batting, if they do it successfully or the rest of the line-up contributes enough we have a great chance.

Kula looks like a good option on paper, but the fact is that he's failed on every other tour he's been on, simply can't do the job outside SL, may as well use someone who is somewhat potent throughout the innings rather than simply with the new ball

 

[YorksLanka]

Doesn't seem to stop New Zealand taking wickets.[/QUOTE

I was talking about the fact that the wickets always seem to favour bowlers and scores tend to be really low on both sides.whilst I am not advocating wickets that produce 1000s of runs,personally I don't like test matches where each team scores 150 in each innings.(typical of a batsmen I suppose lol)

 

[YorksLanka]

BTW,back to the thread and congrats to Sri Lanka on a comprehensive series win.fantastic efforts from Herath,showing the world his class-albeit whilst quietly going about his business.

 

[Flem274*]

Phlegm's doing Jono's trademarked thing of thinking someone is overrated by CW so trying to balance it out with ludicrous levels of hate. Like me with Murali Vijay and Blocky with Ish Sodhi.

He's really not that bad. Worst Top 8 pace bowler around, sure, but he's passable for the role he plays. There's worse options out there, basically.


Also, how ****ing good is Chaminda Vaas at basically everything? WAFG.

I'm not. I genuinely think this is a temporary form burst.

Had he had support NZ probably would have lost that test. Let's not forget that Taylor and Williamson doing well is what allowed us to win. Saw off Williamson early and we were screwed.

I don't even know how much of it you watched but it was a very good spell.

I watched the whole thing. You're drawing a long bow there.

Kula is really slow

Yeah it all depends on the batting for mine, on greentops or flat decks our bowlers will do ok, the odd inspired spell or good passage but largely mediocre and hopefully passable performances are what I expect, Sanga/Matthews and to an extent Silva are likely to carry our batting, if they do it successfully or the rest of the line-up contributes enough we have a great chance.

Kula looks like a good option on paper, but the fact is that he's failed on every other tour he's been on, simply can't do the job outside SL, may as well use someone who is somewhat potent throughout the innings rather than simply with the new ball

I don't think Sri Lanka have anyone more potent than Kula though, and in NZ where he will get swing if he can knock the top off early then hold an end he'll be valuable. Lakmal will get first run however.

I was talking about the fact that the wickets always seem to favour bowlers and scores tend to be really low on both sides.whilst I am not advocating wickets that produce 1000s of runs,personally I don't like test matches where each team scores 150 in each innings.(typical of a batsmen I suppose lol)

:/ the Basin test against India was the first greentop this country has seen since the Sanga test in 2006 and that pitch flattened out pretty well too. NZ did score 680...

I thought you were having a pommy media style whinge about "flat roads" and the kookaburra ball that England came within one wicket of losing a series on.

 

[Flem274*]

Great stuff by Sri Lanka in this series. Sending Mahela out on a high and locking in that short tubby bloke as numero uno spinner in the world.

May as well rename Pakistan "Junaid, The Jacket and Some Shunts" when YK, Misbah and Ajmal retire...

 

[YorksLanka]

Need a Mahela tribute thread.

Done..

 

[hendrix]

I was talking about the fact that the wickets always seem to favour bowlers and scores tend to be really low on both sides.whilst I am not advocating wickets that produce 1000s of runs,personally I don't like test matches where each team scores 150 in each innings.(typical of a batsmen I suppose lol)

you must have not watched cricket played in NZ for about 10 years.

 

[YorksLanka]

you must have not watched cricket played in NZ for about 10 years.

Think I saw the last time India went and they were getting skittled for 120 in each innings..no change there then

 

[hendrix]

Think I saw the last time India went and they were getting skittled for 120 in each innings..no change there then

The last time India went was this year. Greenest wickets we've had in a while and it still involved scores in excess of 500, a near-400 4th innings chase, and a high scoring draw.

Before that was 2009, which featured some pretty flat decks and some good games.

The series you're talking about was I believe 2002 which yes had some seamers but also featured Shane Bond causing havoc with 150kph inswing.

 

[YorksLanka]

Yeah it certainly wasn't the one this year..you are correct..whats 12 years between friends?I can't seem to find details of a sl tour to NZ??am I utterly confused as thought someone here said we were coming there..

 

[hendrix]

Yeah it certainly wasn't the one this year..you are correct..whats 12 years between friends?I can't seem to find details of a sl tour to NZ??am I utterly confused as thought someone here said we were coming there..

You guys are coming at the end of the year I believe. Late December/early January. Should be a good series.

 

[Maximas]

2006 against SL had some greentops didn't it? But yeah on the whole NZ wickets are pretty flat.

This has been an excellent series from our boys, a little too dependent on guys like Sanga and Herath but a win is a win, we've moved up to 4th in the rankings apparently, reckon that's about right, only NZ should be 3rd on current form rather than England.

 

[SOPL]

Finally, a Pakistani wicket-keeper scores a Test century after a duration of five years! Well deserved after playing the extremely deceptive and menacing Rangana Herath with such ease and aggressive intent.

Not falsely trying to jump on the 'I always supported Sarfraz's inclusion' bandwagon but I also recall being one of the very few forum dwellers (on PakPassion) to advocate his selection, for a number of reasons.

The most primary of these was because of the important principle I subscribe to and genuinely abide by. That is awarding any newcomer (given they have a strong domestic record and not entering the international squad on the basis of PCB/political connections - i.e nepotistic selections) fair and consistent opportunities to perform in the international team. Many people tend to mutter very similar words but when the time arrives to back a youngster (in terms of experience) the large majority of these very same fans usually do the complete opposite: criticise the player to no end and continue to whinge for the selection of any old TTF or indulge in 'fanboyism' (typically for Umar Akmal or Afridi).

I'm not trying to take the moral high ground and pretend that Sarfraz Ahmed's performances prior to his comeback against Sri Lanka in the UAE were unbecoming of criticism, but surely Pakistan fans need to learn to back youngsters and allow them a regular run in the side before expressing their opinions of that player? I myself cringed as some of the cowardice displayed by Sarfraz during the SA tour (the lack of a response when Philander threw the ball AT him) but - for the most part at least - reserved judgement until he had obtained a consistent run in the side. His 40+ First-Class average (higher than Kamran or the incompetent batsman in Adnan Akmal with his sub-30 international and domestic average - Tests and First-Class) meant that he was deserving of a consistent run as Test wicket-keeper, my opinion also being shaped by the fact that the only alternative at this stage would most likely be the atrocious Adnan once again.

However, that said, I don't agree with the calls for his selection in the LOIs squads. The only reason why he deserved a consistent run in the Test team was due to his excellent First-Class average (especially considering he is a wicket-keeper) and his clean glovework. Umar Akmal should remain our ODI and T20I wicket-keeper (where, although still important, wicket-keeping ability is less of a requirement than batting) to offer Pakistan a more balanced playing XI whilst Sarfraz should serve Pakistan well for quite a long period as Test wicket-keeper (he already has equaled Rashid Latif's number of centuries in 43 less Test innings!). It remains to be seen how well he plays pace however because apart from an innings of 40 against South Africa, he didn't perform well in either Australia (lone Test, at Hobart) or South Africa.

 

[viriya]

Sarfraz looked like the best pak batsman for most of the series (bar younus's big hundred).. I think it warrants him getting a shot at ODIs.. Even if not keeping.

 

[hendrix]

No it doesn't warrant it. It's a different format. Herath can only bowl a 5th of the overs, for example. Need to give the ODI guys first shot.

Did someone answer my question about what had happened to Jamshed?

 

[SOPL]

Did someone answer my question about what had happened to Jamshed?

Jamshed's form dropped ridiculously after his consecutive centuries against India. A 50 in the 2013 Champions Trophy game against West Indies aside, he looked a shadow of the batsman who was churning out 100s for fun against India.

Nasir Jamshed just seemed to lose it mentally - even failing to perform in subsequent domestic games after his drop from the squad too. Such a shame considering the class act he was during the India tour and the Australian tour to the UAE in 2012, in the mould of - dare I say - the elegant Saeed Anwar.

 

[smash84]

Yeah. I remember nasir jamshed asking the selectors to let him go back to domestic cricket and regain form.