Pakistan, Sri Lanka ...:
Revive one-day rivalry
Pakistan and Sri Lanka open their rivalrly in limited overs cricket
as the five-match one-day series which begins here from Friday promises
fierce competition from two talented sides.
Pakistan won the preceding three-Test series 1-0, but their captain
Misbah-ul Haq feared a strong comeback from the Sri Lankans, who are
number two in the world to their opponent’s sixth in ICC (International
Cricket Council) rankings.
Sri Lanka also finished runners-up to India in this year’s World Cup,
where Pakistan were the losing semi-finalists. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka
in the group stages of the 2011 World Cup and that’s why Misbah feels
both teams will start on an even keel.
Very good
“Sri Lanka are a very good one-day side, so we know we face good
competition but we are focused and I believe it’s a 50-50 game because
if they reached the final of the World Cup, we were semi-finalists,”
said Misbah.
The 37-year-old Misbah was appointed captain for all three formats of
the game in June this year after Shahid Afridi retired in protest over
being sacked as one-day captain.
Afridi, who with 21 dismissals was the joint-leading wicket taker in
the World Cup with India’s Zaheer Khan, returns to the squad after
reversing his retirement decision earlier this month.
Misbah hoped Afridi’s return will boost Pakistan. “Afridi is a very
good allrounder and whenever he plays he is a threat for the opponents,”
said Misbah of Afridi who holds the record of the fastest one-day
hundred, made off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in 1997.
Allrounder
But the 31-year allrounder will be under pressure to perform in both
batting and bowling after a poor one-day series against the West Indies
in May, following which he fell out with then coach Waqar Younis. Sri
Lanka will also be boosted by the return of their sling-action paceman
Lasith Malinga who earlier this year retired from Test cricket, but
still poses big threats in limited over matches with his lethal yorkers.
“Lasith gives us good bowling support at the top and that is why we
have a decent one-day team and had a good one-day series against
Australia at home two months ago,” said Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne
Dilshan.
Opener
But Dilshan has no series wins as captain, both in Tests and one-day,
since taking over from Kumar Sangakkara in May this year. The
35-year-old opener still believes his team carry some positives from the
Test series.
“We can carry the positives from the Tests, our bowling is really
experienced with Lasith and Dilhara (Fernando), both have played well
and our batting is strong, so we have a good chance,” said Dilshan. |