Sri Lanka v Pakistan in the UAE, 2013/14

[Slowcoach]

Not sure about Bilawal Bhatti being picked in Tests, his ODI bowling stats aren't good so he doesn't seem to be a wicket taker.
Reminds me of Yasir Arafat, dreadful ODI bowling stats, useful number 8 batsman, short, and strangely picked in Tests, before not doing much.

A 7 foot 7 Mohammad Irfan opening the bowling with a 5 foot 6 Bilawal Bhatti would be an interesting opening attack.
Irfan's height has been downgraded on cricinfo I see, no longer 7 foot 11, now just 7 foot 1.
I wonder if Bilawal Bhatti's height will be upgraded from 5 foot 6, much like the medium pace of Yasir Arafat, which has gone "officially" from RM to RF, due to taking wickets in T20 cricket.
He still looks RM to me, and short.

 

[Insomniac]

Bilawal Bhatti on fire with 3 wickets, and getting Mahela out twice in two balls.

Troubling Mathews now too. Shocking considering he was hit pretty easily in the ODIs.

 

[Slowcoach]

And like Yasir Arafat, Bilawal Bhatti has run through a team on the first morning of his Test debut, before petering out and being very expensive.

I should know by now there is no such thing as Pakistani medium pacer...they all bowl Fast...even Afridi.

As well you might kiss the pitch Junaid Khan, it is green, a fast bowler's godsend in these parched parts.

Now a terrible piece of fielding by Rahat Ali, and Saeed Ajmal's double chin, not all is as rosy as the scoreboard suggests.

 

[surendar]

Expected Ajmal will be ripping the SL line up with Sanga alone giving a fight back, but really surprised at the outcome. Pakistan was predicted to have an edge over Lankans even before the start of this match, they are rightly proving the same.

 

[sami ullah khan]

Junaid Khan is all about hardwork and intensity. I wish he can get back that inswinger to right hander. That will make him much more potent.

 

[surendar]

So the hype of Ajmal & Herarth dominating the batsmen is all gone now. In particular the bowling of Lankans is just bad. Thought only India has weakest bowling line up but there is someone better in being weak!

 

[Slowcoach]

Was not impressed by Saeed Ajmal cruising into bowl in dark glasses with his double chin and big christmas belly, it smacked of complacency, and now the results have come back to haunt him.
International Cricket is too strong for unfit players to get by in anymore.
Rahat Ali has also put on weight, I thought it was muscle, but he hasn't taken a wicket.
Pakistan have some serious problems, Sri Lanka are all but useless, so not beating them will be a wasted opportunity.
Bilawal Bhatti is not worth his place, he is mediocre at best.
What next, another recall for the new and improved fat Sami.
Pakistan are the most unprofessional team in world cricket, they can't get by on natural talent from one or two players anymore.
Bring back Taufeeq Umar as opener, drop Hafeez, and find a pace bowling allrounder who can bat at 6.
Also bring back Azhar Ali, even though his form was terrible, he was doing better than Hafeez.
ODI runs mean nothing these days for Test selection because ODI tracks are all roads that anyone can score runs on.
Personally, I'd go with Afridi at 6, and promote Shafiq to 3.
I don't care if he struggles outside the subcontinent, they all do, and he scores more runs than Hafeez, and buys you time with the rate at which he scores.
Also, dump all Akmals, I'm sick of them.

 

[PackenHols]

Shame Chandimal couldn't reach his century. That does seem to be a problem for young Sri Lankan batsman. A lot of them struggle to get to a century. I remember Angelo Matthews getting out in the 90s several times

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

relatively pleased with chandimal and mathews, sri lanka have been under a lot of pressure because no one could see any sign of quality batsmen after jaya and sanga but perhaps instead we should just accuse of them of cutting a little too close for comfort.

those two looked very good and it's nice to see mathews come out and play a really decisive innings.

 

[ste_mc_efc]

Very disappointed I've missed all the action here, actually. starts 6am over here. my bedtime ranges from 4am-6am depending on work so on 2 of the days I've woken up in time to catch the last 5 overs of the day.

 

[Slowcoach]

Am a huge Hafeez fan, despite my earlier rave about dumping him from the team, but his Test form this year has been ridiculously frustrating, good opportunity for him here to play a career defining innings, and win over some fans.

P.S. And I was right about Bhatti, he petered out and was very expensive, Yasir Arafat Mk2.

Impressed with Lakmal, he has some pace and bounce.

 

[surendar]

Mathews is having a dream run as skipper, never thought that he is capable of rescuing his team in test levels. I was hoping for Sanga/Mahela pair to play a rescue role in second innings, but it was amazing to see someone doing it instead.

Ajmal is disappointing though!

 

[War]

If Mathews can get some more potency in his bowling from a test perspective, that would help SRI a lot.

 

[Salman_Ghaffar]

I think that Pakistan should rest Junaid for Rehman.....who agrees?

 

[Addy]

Yeah the guy is prone to injury, Misbahh should handle him carefully! This will be an important match so I won't rest him here. Just pick AR in place of Rah at Ali