Man of the Series is Sangakkar for making 490 runs in three games. Sangakkara: "Thisara came in and got us into a good position. Chandimal did well in the opening slot. Pakistan put us under pressure but our guys showed a lot of character. Since Murali, it has been a tough run for us. We have got to get used to playing without the greatest of all cricketers.
**Man of the Match **is Shafiq for his match-saving second-innings century. Shafiq: "It was challenging, I had to build a partnership. I would like to thank Adnan the way he played."
Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Junaid Khan providing a glimpse into Pakistan's future, and it looks to be in safe hands
The Galle Test proving to be the difference in the end; it was marred by several umpiring decisions going against Pakistan, but Sri Lanka were still the better side in that game. That apart, not much to choose between the two sides.
Absorbing Test in the end, but you have to think Sri Lanka could have been more positive on day five. They sat back in the morning, allowing Shafiq and Adnan to build a big partnership, and then shut shop after tea in the chase.
Mahela: "I think we have won the series, right? [when asked why they did not go for the runs]. We fought in tough situations, guys performed under pressure. When we came into the last hour, we realised it was not within our reach as we had lost a couple of wickets. Chandimal's wicket was very crucial, we shut shop after that, but obviously till then, the intent was to win the match. It was a very hard series for us. Given the kind of armoury Pakistan have, they should be ranked higher in the ICC rankings. Everyone should take a lot of credit for the hard work [for the series win]."
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* Misbah: "After the first game, really happy with the way we performed. Azhar Ali and Shafiq did really well, the way Adnan played with a broken finger, Junaid is a positive for us the way he bowled, we fought back after the first game. when you are not having a regular keeper, it puts pressure on your bowlers also. The pitch was live for first two days and after that it was really flat, nothing on it, if it would have been a five-day match, we could have had a result. We were behind in the first game, it cost us the series." *
yeah we lost the series but a lot of positives mashallah....very happy overall...
junaid is looking great...we need to use him strategically so that he does not get injured
azhar and asad showed the potential...that is how you play in the test matches
Adnan is a very good keeper, and now he is proving he can bat too.....
professor haeez will mentally get a lot of bump from his marathon innings...i mean nothing so great about him overall but if he can bat with some consistency, he is an asset..as he can bowl and field really well
umar gul needs to be rested for a longgggggggggg time....we still need younis and misbah in test matches for next 12-18 months.i cant wait for SA series..that will be a real test of this team on those pitches but I am feeling good! GO PAK...
Overall, not a bad result for Pak. I thought we were very competitive in the 2nd and 3rd test and without rain we could have won the 2nd test. But for day 2 being washed out there would have been a result in the 3rd test as well and it could have gone either way
The pitch was at it's best on days 4 and 5 and bringing in Sami for Rehman turned out to be a poor decision in the end. Gul needs to be set aside and restricted to T20Is only. He is just not penetrative enough in tests or ODIs
Younis didn't have a great series (ave 33.40) but he did make 87 in the 2nd innings of the first test. Imo he's still good enough to play test cricket but I seriously hope that he will not be considered for ODIs against Australia
Junaid, Asad, Adnan (batted well at a crucial time despite a fractured finger) and Azhar ...Well Done guys. Hafeez too had a good series
Last but not the least, the umpiring in the series left a lot to be desired. Steve Davis was poor and atrocious throughout. Imo he does not deserve to be on the elite panel (just makes too many mistakes)
This series also underlines the fact that we still need both Misbah (missed the first test in Galle because of a nonsensical ban; the team improved dramatically under his captaincy) and Younis for test matches
I think what we are lacking at the moment is a second penetrative fast bowler (actually need three good pacers in tests). Need to find better pacers than Gul and Sami (both just not penetrative enough) to partner Junaid
I think what we are lacking at the moment is a second penetrative fast bowler (actually need three good pacers in tests). Need to find better pacers than Gul and Sami (both just not penetrative enough) to partner Junaid
yep spot on...umar gul kee to game khatam ha but sami may be ok on SA pitches.... but we need to find couple of good fast bowlers...aamir and asif twada bera gharq ho jayee....
I think what we are lacking at the moment is a second penetrative fast bowler (actually need three good pacers in tests). Need to find better pacers than Gul and Sami (both just not penetrative enough) to partner Junaid
We should try rahat ali, sadaf, tanveer instead of gul, sami. have not seen sadaf but rahat has pace and bounce. he could be very effective on SA pitches . . .
