Pakistan v Sri Lanka Test Preview

Danish Kaneria
By Saj
October 18 2004

After the Paktel GSM Cup, Pakistan and Sri Lanka square up in the tests. What sort of performances can we expect from both teams, and who to look out for in this 2 match series.

After a break of over 6 months, Pakistan finally pack their green kits away and replace them with the traditional whites. Due to the cancellation of the home series against Zimbabwe, Pakistan have had an extended break from test cricket and must be hungry and keen to get stuck into the longer version of the game.

Rawalpindi in April was the last test appearance for the Pakistanis, and they will be looking to restore the faith of their fans after a poor series and a couple of poor performances against India. The home series against India was obviously a disaster for the team and the Sri Lankan series provides several players with an opportunity to repair their tarnished reputations.

The squad Pakistan has selected has no major surprises, bar the omission of Taufeeq Umar. However upon closer examination of Taufeeqs current form and technique and one realises that this is not the Taufeeq who was playing the likes of Ntini, Pollock and Kallis with consummate ease. Taufeeq had a distinctly average tour of Kenya with the “A” team and must look to some big scores in the domestic circuit to ensure his seat on the plane to Australia.

Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat will be expected to provide the home team with solid starts at the top of the batting order. It is an interesting combination, one who has recently been dropped from the one day side, some would say rather unfairly and must be keen to prove the selectors wrong once again, and the other who has been in horrible form in the recently concluded Paktel GSM Cup. Yasirs footwork was to coin a phrase “bloody awful”. He seemed uneasy in the middle, playing his shots again and again, almost trying to be “too correct”. His approach was not the freeflowing and natural one that we have witnessed from him previously. It will be interesting to see how Yasir does in the test series, which will surely provide a greater scrutiny of his mindset and technique. One gets the impression that Yasir likes to feel the ball hitting the middle of the bat at all times, however his patience will be tested by the likes of the experienced Vaas.

The composition of the Pakistan team will be of great interest. Asim Kamal in my opinion is well suited to the number 3 position. From what I have seen of him in his early test career, he plays each ball on merit and has a nice blend of solid defence and strokemaking ability when the need arises and I would like to see him get the nod ahead of Younis Khan at 3.

The number 6 slot appears to be a battle between Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq. Neither Younis nor Razzaq have set the world alight in recent times with their performances and it depends upon whether Pakistan feel confident enough to go into the Faisalabad test with only 5 front line batsman or whether they want to have the luxury of Younis Khan batting at 6, especially with the tail more or less starting at number 8. Shoaib Malik being reported for chucking has definitely thrown a spanner in the works for Pakistan, as I am sure he would have been selected. Note though he may still be selected even though his action is under review.

I expect Moin Khan if fit and available to get the nod ahead of the youngster Zulqarnain Haider. However Moin is under great pressure to perform and the sole purpose of having Zulqarnain in the squad is to provide Moin with a polite reminder that you are by no means a certainty in the starting lineup.

Three of the bowlers are automatic selections, Kaneria, Shoaib and Sami will undoubtedly be selected for the opening test but the 4th bowlers slot is up for grabs. I have a feeling that Rana may get the nod over Riaz Afridi. Rana has shown an ability to take wickets with both the new and old ball, also shown in the one dayers that he was the bowler who was extracting the most swing. He could be the surprise selection and performer in the team.

Mohamed Sami is a player whom I have a lot of time for, a livewire in the field, technically he is solid with the bat and has the ability to clout the ball as well as providing a resolute defence. However Sami is not in the team for his batting or his fielding, he is in the team for his bowling. In 15 tests he has an average of 46.94, having only taken 39 wickets whilst conceding 1831 runs, this is an utter disgrace. We can sympathise with him and say that he is still relatively inexperienced in test cricket, but I say now is the time for Sami to start repaying the faith the selectors have had in him. No balls, the ability to spray the ball all over, one four ball per over are not the facets of a world class bowler. We need to see more performances like the one we saw in New Zealand early in his career. He has had a season of County cricket, yet other than a healthy pay cheque from Kent, we have seen no improvement in him. He continues to be mediocre, with the occasional flash of brilliance. He is a player whom I want to see turn in a good performance in this series.

Danish Kaneria is a player whom I enjoy watching. He may not be the most agile fielder or the best batsman, but he enjoys his bowling, is a thinking cricketer and an improving cricketer. His building up his armoury of deliveries and whilst the Lankans are excellent players of spin, I believe that Danish could have a very profitable series.

The Sri Lankans will undoubtedly have seen in the Paktel GSM Cup, what most honest Pakistani fans already know, an obvious weakness against spin. Yasir, Razzaq, Malik and Moin play spin with an air of predictability and most of their shot selection is pre determined. Whilst Pakistan can thank their lucky stars that Muralitharan is nursing an injury, they still have the likes of Chandan, Herath and Samaraweera who could pose the Pakistanis problems. Whilst the three aforementioned do not have the variety and guile of Murali, the wickets could suit them and Pakistans ability to self destruct could once again come to the fore. In Vaas, Attapatu, Jayasuriya, Sangakkara and Jayawardene the Lankans have enough experience and ability to ensure that their record on Pakistani turf continues to be a good one.

I expect an extremely close fought series with the possibility that the series is decided by one inspired session from one individual – stand up Mr Shoaib Akhtar. One nil to Pakistan is my prediction.