Sri Lanka v Pakistan (in U.A.E) (2011)

Well I care less about SLN as long as this series is in progress and I would love to see them keep losing... However, if I have to think about SLN then the first thing I'd say is that there is too much of inconsistency in their selection which is clearly hurting them.

Mikey - yeah, if Paranavitana is the best Test opener in SL then there are serious problems there. Thirimanne is younger and is better suited to the side but both of them aren't particularly good. Having said that, I still don't think they should have Tharanga. Yes, ODI batting and Test batting aren't as distinct as they once were but there are still key differences. If batting for a draw, and I sense SL will be in this position often going forward, you need someone who can staunchly defend and block, which I don't think Tharanga has in his game. Also, there is far more room to attack in Tests with more slips/gully etc. so his tendency to flash outside off-stump will get him in more trouble in the 5-day format. In ODI cricket, the emphasis is more on defensive fields and run-protection on the part of the fielding side so he won't get into as much trouble.

Hmm, interesting thoughts sam and mystery. I don't really agree with all of it though.

1) Agreed, Perera should be in the ODI team. He bats aggessively in the lower-order and is a canny bowler.

2) Mendis should not be playing. mystery - yes, the Pakistanis play all bowling well but with Mendis, his main weapon is deception by mystifying batsman. Once you read all his variations well, he is nothing more than a hittable medium pacer. At least, with other bowlers, they still bring other things to the table like swing, seam, big turn which can cause the batsmen headaches. With Mendis, once the mystery is gone, he doesn't serve a purpose anymore.

3) They dropped Chandimal because he had a string of low scores against AUS in the ODI series. I think they must have had a change of heart and after his good performances in the Champs league, they probably decided to get him into the side. I think he should be in the ODI side though, he is one of the better youngsters they have.

4) How was he doing all right? He picked up a few wickets and got Pietersen out a couple of times over in England so his leg-spin was coming along OK for a part-timer. However, his main role in the side was to be a batsman. He was not scoring any runs, just consistent failures in the middle-order which kept hampering SL. He was rightly dropped.

5) Agree here. Maharoof is more suited to the ODIs and I don't really know why they dropped Thushara from the squad.

Finally, mystery - Mathews is good enough to play as a pure batsman. He is quality. I think that he should be contributing with the ball as well but maybe they don't want to risk an injury to their brightest prospect. I expect he will be bowling more as time continues.

Mystery - I absolutely agree on Sarfaraz, many times on this forum I've said that keeping wise Sarfaraz is the best Pakistan have, much better than Kamran or Haider or even Adnan, the only problem is he isn't as good a batsmen as Kamran but I dearly hope he comes good with the bat too. I also agree that malik for Farhat is a sensible option, but with farhat doing well they won't change as of now, the thing is Farhat will do well in these places against these teams but will be brutally exposed against better teams on bowling friendly tracks, PAK should think about that.

A fair result in the end - the better team on the day won. Pakistan made too many mistakes early in the chase. Umar's knock was brilliant, pity he could not finish it off. Razzaq'a run out was crucial and that possibly cost the game. I did not want Pakistan to win this one after having bowled all those wides - they need to learn from it as it cost them the game 

The run outs and that first over cost pakistan the match, more so the run outs. I mean losing wickets to Malinga against the new ball can happen but boss Razzaq and Afridi getting themselves run out at crucial moments in the game is simply not on. Those two run outs cost Pakistan dearly.

It was also good bowling in the latter half of the innings as the seamers and spinners combined to dry the scoring rate which brought wickets. Ajmal is such a wonderful bowler - that delivery on which he got Mahela out was an absolute gem.

Hafeez has been a revelation with the bat, and even on occasion with the ball. He has been an inspired selection, scoring regularly and also quickly at the top of the order. He looks a much better player than he was when I first saw him here in Australia in 2004. At the moment he's probably the best batsman for Pakistan, marginally ahead of Misbah for me. In saying that though, the Pakistani batsmen have done better than I have seen them do in a long time. Pakistan had a lot of good batsmen in the 90s, Saleem Malik, Inzamam, Ijaz, Saeed Anwar, Javed Miandad (for a couple of years), Yousuf and so forth. So it has certainly been hard to replicate that talent.

If only Saeed Ajmal didn't flex his arm so much I'd rate him higher...

oh yes!!! A sharjah special for all of us!!! Shaid Afridi welcome back mate, I love you so much!!! Yipeeeeeeeee... Series win for Pakistan, their 5th consecutive bilateral series win in ODI's Mashallah... I'm absolutely delighted, special effort by Saeed Ajmal once again, Afridi was brilliant with both bat and ball, good stuff also from Hafeez, a wonderful wonderful win, delighted really, I'll relax a bit now for the last ODI but that doesn't mean PAK can lose that, they should try to win,. although the main motive of the series is accomplished.  

Originally posted by abubakar52 Excellent Stuff from Pakistan, Some one aside from Sanga and Jayawardene needed to perform, all the other batsmen failed, Afridi was awesome. Malik fails again, his comeback has been horrible, I hope they give him another change nextgame, and he can score a few or take a few wickets.

Congrats to Pakistani team for winning 5th series in a row as Sam said and Malik should play in place of Farhat and should open as he is much much better than him plus he is very handy with the ball.


Edited by mystery - 20 November 2011 at 11:21pm

Congratulations my team and yup  great performance by Afridi both with ball and bat(once in a blue moon). How can you not love this man after this performance. Haha yeah Mikey but I think it was a different knock from him. He played some sensible shots and didn't try to go after every ball. I really loved Yesterday's match. 

Edited by Amal - 21 November 2011 at 3:50pm

They'll easily dispose of Bangladesh sam, and then the streak ends when they meet England. I fancy PAK to beat ENG in the ODIs but Tests PAK have no chance unless the pitches turn square. 

we'll see how they do against ENG BP, I was talking about the ODI's anyways, so we'll see how they go.

I quite like Misbah. He stays clam and goes abut his business without fuss. The seniors around him appear comfortable, which is why the team looks well gelled.  It might sound bullish, but for my money, Pakistan's ODI bowling attack is the finest in the world at the moment. In Ajmal, Hafeez and Afridi, they have three bowlers in the top ten rankings - well complimented by the seamers. Bring on Engalnd I say.

Pakistan's bowling for me is second only to South Africa, I'm talking about the ODI's here, the thing is that on faster surfaces Pakistani's spin bowlers like Afridi and Hafeez may not be as effective but on slower surfaces they'll be more than handful.