Pakistan's Test win in Sri Lanka? Happy or improvement still needed?

[Amjid Javed]

So Pakistan actually in large parts played some good test cricket in Sri Lanka, espcially with the ball which helped them win test series 2-0. I thought Naseem Shah and Noman Ali were excellent. The batting still is a worry the likes of Shan masood showing he has no place in the team. Both saud and Agha cementing places in team for now with 100s. Looks like Abdullah shaffique may have saved his test career.

What impressed you most in SL test win?

 

[Savak]

The Pakistan Way approach was very refreshing to watch. Our run rate on average through out the series was 4 runs per over and above. The players under the new coaching staff were made to practice numerous batting games, drill where the overall message was 3 consecutive dot balls and you are declared out. If you try to hit your way out of trouble, you are out. The players were put under pressure to put bad balls away, to be more aggressive in their stroke play and to find ways to rotate the strike, to get rid of the fear of getting out.

The overall batting approach was very delightful and for once i didn't care about winning, losing as long as we were playing the game in the right fan friendly manner.

 

[Amjid Javed]

The Pakistan Way approach was very refreshing to watch. Our run rate on average through out the series was 4 runs per over and above. The players under the new coaching staff were made to practice numerous batting games, drill where the overall message was 3 consecutive dot balls and you are declared out. If you try to *** your way out of trouble, you are out. The players were put under pressure to put bad balls away, to be more aggressive in their stroke play and to find ways to rotate the strike, to get rid of the fear of getting out.

The overall batting approach was very delightful and for once i didn't care about winning, losing as long as we were playing the game in the right fan friendly manner.

Yeah the approach with bat was a lot better to see, but also some intelligence was used. Saud's batting with the tail in 1st test pretty much gave us a match winning 1st inns. We have tougher sides to play, but let's hope Pakistan are going to keep playing positively. Apart from Australia away series. There should be no excuses not to do well in the other series.

 

[msb314]

Bowling and batting was good but keep in mind SL are a hot pile of garbage right now..

Let’s wait until the tour of Australia before making a judgement

 

[heddie19]

It was a beginning of a new era, The Babar Era. unbelievable performance especially in the 2nd test.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Bowling and batting was good but keep in mind SL are a hot pile of garbage right now..

Let’s wait until the tour of Australia before making a judgement

No point judging Pakistan on away tour to Australia, regardless of the how well Pakistan played, we don't have a team to compete in Australian conditions

 

[msb314]

No point judging Pakistan on away tour to Australia, regardless of the how well Pakistan played, we don't have a team to compete in Australian conditions

The team is fine. We just need a 3rd seamer to complement Naseem and SSA. Batting wise I think we are solid for now

 

[Amjid Javed]

The team is fine. We just need a 3rd seamer to complement Naseem and SSA. Batting wise I think we are solid for now

 

[Amjid Javed]

Batting still needs huge improvement, our top 3 isn't great and are to inconsistent. They tend to play 1 good knock a series which isn't good enough in most cases.

Technically apart from babar our batsmen are going to find Australia really tough.

 

[as-95]

Wicketkeeping meeds improvement.

Get rid of Sarfraz completely and blood in Haris.

Replace Shan too and we are on to something

 

[Saj]

Sri Lankan cricket seems to be going towards the same way as West Indies.

One or two decent players with the rest just making up the numbers.

Having said that, to go there and win 2-0 was impressive.

Pakistan played well, the fielding was excellent, the bowlers did a decent job and most of the batters did the job they were in the side for.

The best thing was the attacking intent from Pakistan's batters - it was much needed and good to see.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Sri Lankan cricket seems to be going towards the same way as West Indies.

One or two decent players with the rest just making up the numbers.

Having said that, to go there and win 2-0 was impressive.

Pakistan played well, the fielding was excellent, the bowlers did a decent job and most of the batters did the job they were in the side for.

The best thing was the attacking intent from Pakistan's batters - it was much needed and good to see.

Apart from Dhananjaya de Silva no one looked like they had the technical ability or the hunger to try and stick it out and try and score any runs, yeah WI are pretty much similar as well. Was good to see some proactiveness by babar in the field and his captaincy. However the awful home form we had last year needs to be rectified in next few home series, that means sporting pitches in Pakistan and playing with same mentality showed here in SL.

 

[Savak]

No point judging Pakistan on away tour to Australia, regardless of the how well Pakistan played, we don't have a team to compete in Australian conditions

India has laid the template via Bharat Arun's bowling tactics and field placings on how to win in Australia. The key is to restrict Australia to not more than 350 and they will fall under serious pressure.

 

[Savak]

Its unfair for the ICC to give 40% of the ICC funds to BCCI and to divide the remaining amount amongst the 8-10 nations. The end result is that the likes of West Indies, Sri Lanka don't have the funds to keep investing back in Cricket and Developing players.

 

[shamaan]

So Pakistan actually in large parts played some good test cricket in Sri Lanka, espcially with the ball which helped them win test series 2-0. I thought Naseem Shah and Noman Ali were excellent. The batting still is a worry the likes of Shan masood showing he has no place in the team. Both saud and Agha cementing places in team for now with 100s. Looks like Abdullah shaffique may have saved his test career.

What impressed you most in SL test win?

That the youngsters performed has to be a big plus,Also Shafique he is pakistan best opener currently in tests.

 

[shamaan]

Batting still needs huge improvement, our top 3 isn't great and are to inconsistent. They tend to play 1 good knock a series which isn't good enough in most cases.

Technically apart from babar our batsmen are going to find Australia really tough.

1 good knock in a 2 match series is okay not that bad.

 

[AAli98]

Babars paks weak link. Says pak will play new brand of cricket- tells everyone to play quick but plays like a himself.

 

[James]

Huge improvement… the best and sharpest all round Test cricket that Pakistan have played in some time.

Stiffer challenges to come, but a great series win and an impressive start to the new cycle.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Very impressive. Pakistan has been consistently improving since 2016. Fitness regimes under Mickey, restructuring of domestic cricket, data-driven selections, and planning. All coming to fruition now. Replace Imam with Hurraira and I think that's probably the best Test side you can put out.

There are only 2 teams in world cricket that do all of the above better than PAK right now - England and New Zealand. Far cry from 2015 era when PAK was worse than even minnows. Age fraud is the only thing in the way that is stopping PAK but PCB look determined to eliminate that as well. Good stuff

BCCI, take note.

 

[Bilal Ahmad15]

2 Great Wins

 

[gazza619]

I know we won comfortably but I always like a third pacer in the XI, no matter what pitch. One quality fast bowling allrounder is desperately needed.

 

[TeymurBlake]

Its a improvement at the end of the day, Pakistan played some great cricket and show some much needed progression under a new coaching setup. More important was the fielding looked tight and competent.

 

[Zeshan547]

Its a improvement at the end of the day, Pakistan played some great cricket and show some much needed progression under a new coaching setup. More important was the fielding looked tight and competent.

That was "the difference" actually. And don't know it was just one fluke series or not but haven't seen Pak field at that level throughout a test series and hard to fluke it for that long. And as above poster said i was also worried for third pacer but i guess in turning conditions you could do with two pacers if they are as good as these two Shahs but still third pacer even though he maybe an all rounder is never bad insurance. Baba Noman at last proved his worth but it will be interesting which spinners they would go with in Australia , Abrar or Noman. I would actually pick neither as they are still not good enough for Australian conditions and would rather play Agha to bowl some spin for 8 to 10 overs per day to give breather for pacers, Saud can also chip in with 4 to 5 overs if needed , and all hevay lifting would have to be done by Pacers , Two Shahs and Arshad Iqbal and Amir Jamal or Faheem Ashraf ( for his better back foot play as better plus more experience). I wouldn't want to play a specialist spinner for the sake of it. And if one must play then it should be younger Abrar as leg spinner and he has developed enough control to not go to 6 Rpo unlike Yasir Shah plus he is younger and this experience will be helpful for him for future tour when he will be more complete bowler unlike Noman uncle who won't be playing then.

 

[ElRaja]

best pak have played in a long time, doing it against aus will be completely diff challenge tho.

great to see shafique back in form, and shakeel and salman add a lot of depth to the middle order.

also sad to see the decline of sri lanka, its obvious they are simply not producing test quality youngsters. prabath jayasuriya, arguably their best player, is a lesser version of herath.

absolutely insanity on their part to not play pathum nissanka, one of the few youngsters who has potential to be world class.

 

[apnapind]

Beating sri lanka in sri lanka is still a big thing so well done to pakistan team

 

[apnapind]

best pak have played in a long time, doing it against aus will be completely diff challenge tho.

great to see shafique back in form, and shakeel and salman add a lot of depth to the middle order.

also sad to see the decline of sri lanka, its obvious they are simply not producing test quality youngsters. prabath jayasuriya, arguably their best player, is a lesser version of herath.

absolutely insanity on their part to not play pathum nissanka, one of the few youngsters who has potential to be world class.

Bro do u think pak can beat aus now or atleast compete there?

 

[apnapind]

So Pakistan actually in large parts played some good test cricket in Sri Lanka, espcially with the ball which helped them win test series 2-0. I thought Naseem Shah and Noman Ali were excellent. The batting still is a worry the likes of Shan masood showing he has no place in the team. Both saud and Agha cementing places in team for now with 100s. Looks like Abdullah shaffique may have saved his test career.

What impressed you most in SL test win?

Do u think pakistan beating sri lanka in sri lanka is still a big thing because aus couldnt do it only could draw the series?

 

[ElRaja]

Bro do u think pak can beat aus now or atleast compete there?

maybe compete in one or two tests if the conditions are right but i think pak have too big a mental block to win, also a lack of quality spinner will hurt massively, i think abrar will have a baptism of fire to his career outside asia.

the last time pak won in aus mushie was in his pomp, and if ur quicks have to do the heavy lifting, soon enough they get worn down.

 

[apnapind]

maybe compete in one or two tests if the conditions are right but i think pak have too big a mental block to win, also a lack of quality spinner will hurt massively, i think abrar will have a baptism of fire to his career outside asia.

the last time pak won in aus mushie was in his pomp, and if ur quicks have to do the heavy lifting, soon enough they get worn down.

Bro how about nauman dont you think he will have a role to play like how he has played his part in sri lanka series win because aus are not that good against quaility spin

 

[ElRaja]

Bro how about nauman dont you think he will have a role to play like how he has played his part in sri lanka series win because aus are not that good against quaility spin

spinners struggle in aus, and nauman is at best, a good first class spinner, he might be economical, but he wont be incisive in the average aussie conditions.

 

[pakfan54588]

Excellent series especially for shafiq 'agha and saud.Hopefully they will stick with same approach

 

[apnapind]

spinners struggle in aus, and nauman is at best, a good first class spinner, he might be economical, but he wont be incisive in the average aussie conditio

spinners struggle in aus, and nauman is at best, a good first class spinner, he might be economical, but he wont be incisive in the average aussie conditions.

Bro how do u rate abdullah saud and agha they looked pretty solid pak got decent batting line up now

 

[shah9425]

This approach was very good hopefully they continue to play this fearless brand of cricket in future too

 

[Saj]

I wonder if Sarfaraz did enough to retain his place in the Test side?

Rizwan looked very impressive when he came into the side as the substitute.

I wonder just how much international cricket Sarfaraz has left in him.

 

[ElRaja]

Bro how do u rate abdullah saud and agha they looked pretty solid pak got decent batting line up now

abdullah - very highly, he got a lot of criticism on this forum but you simply dont throw away a young player with his temperament to play long innings. given his role he will have a lot of inconsistency, even the best openers have a lot of low scores, but pak need to persist with him, if he gets set he makes very important contributions, his mental strength will only increase with time. only question now is his ability to play bounce, which has not been tested yet.

saud - perfect middle order batsman in asia, pbly the best player of spin, but i was worried how poorly he did in county with a little bit of movement, hopefully it was just a form thing, and not a technical issue, his ability to roll over his arm also helps with extra bowling options. is a guaranteed starter for the next year or two, and deserves to be backed in all conditions.

salman - tends to play with the freedom needed of a lower order batter, doesnt get bogged down and provides a very important bowling option. will likely be the most at risk in conditions which require extra seamer, but he deserves to be persisted with, embodies the aggressive cricket pak want to play. i mentioned in an old post his selection was very deserved given his recent first class form, and hes proving hes a decent option.

 

[Fenrir]

Huraira should have played in place of Shan.

 

[apnapind]

abdullah - very highly, he got a lot of criticism on this forum but you simply dont throw away a young player with his temperament to play long innings. given his role he will have a lot of inconsistency, even the best openers have a lot of low scores, but pak need to persist with him, if he gets set he makes very important contributions, his mental strength will only increase with time. only question now is his ability to play bounce, which has not been tested yet.

saud - perfect middle order batsman in asia, pbly the best player of spin, but i was worried how poorly he did in county with a little bit of movement, hopefully it was just a form thing, and not a technical issue, his ability to roll over his arm also helps with extra bowling options. is a guaranteed starter for the next year or two, and deserves to be backed in all conditions.

salman - tends to play with the freedom needed of a lower order batter, doesnt get bogged down and provides a very important bowling option. will likely be the most at risk in conditions which require extra seamer, but he deserves to be persisted with, embodies the aggressive cricket pak want to play. i mentioned in an old post his selection was very deserved given his recent first class form, and hes proving hes a decent option.

Rightly said bro you made great points thanks for provinding such a great analysis

 

[Bewal Express]

Excellent performance by PK. Abdullah and Saud looked excellent throughout and the bowlers including Chacha Naumi did a great job.
However, I am worried about the stance of Saud as far as bouncier tracks in Australia are concerned- feet are too wide apart and if the Aussies bowl short at him, he will struggle to score

 

[James]

Feels like a bit of a longshot but it would be great to see Pakistan playing to the level where they could compete in a Test series in Australia.

 

[Bewal Express]

Feels like a bit of a longshot but it would be great to see Pakistan playing to the level where they could compete in a Test series in Australia.

Not going to happen. Our bowlers normally freeze and our batsman like to give slip catching practice. If you compare our tameness to Ind aggression against Australia, you see why get smashed.

 

[apnapind]

Not going to happen. Our bowlers normally freeze and our batsman like to give slip catching practice. If you compare our tameness to Ind aggression against Australia, you see why get smashed.

Bro our team still performed brillianty won the series 2 nil compare to to aus who just drew their last series against sri lanka i think we have pretty good chance to atleast compete there our batting is pretty solid now tbh.

 

[Bewal Express]

Bro our team still performed brillianty won the series 2 nil compare to to aus who just drew their last series against sri lanka i think we have pretty good chance to atleast compete there our batting is pretty solid now tbh.

Batting is decent, but the problem is that from 7 down, it's non existent. Top teams have very good 8 and 9, and even 10 is OK. We have 4 guys that are 10s and 11s.

 

[apnapind]

Batting is decent, but the problem is that from 7 down, it's non existent. Top teams have very good 8 and 9, and even 10 is OK. We have 4 guys that are 10s and 11s.

Dont u think shaheed and nauman has a batting in them if they just improve more can be decent

 

[Bewal Express]

Dont u think shaheed and nauman has a batting in them if they just improve more can be decent

No, they are at best 10s. You cant win consistently against teams like Aus, Eng and Ind without a strong tail. I would get the SSA and NS into the nets for 45min each day and get the to work on their batting. When the top 3 are 7 down, they can get eek out 70 more runs in tight situations, we can barely get 30

 

[Savak]

Pakistan's problems in Australia are primarily bowling. You can't habitually concede 500 plus runs in every innings. You need to restrict Australia to around 300 maximum. Pakistan's batting line up is good enough to score 300-400 runs in Australia but the bowlers have to be able to take 10 wickets in effective fashion every innings.

 

[Bewal Express]

Pakistan's problems in Australia are primarily bowling. You can't habitually concede 500 plus runs in every innings. You need to restrict Australia to around 300 maximum. Pakistan's batting line up is good enough to score 300-400 runs in Australia but the bowlers have to be able to take 10 wickets in effective fashion every innings.

But if our bowlers do well( which is pretty rare), our batsman wilt under pressure( Sydney 2010). Its noticeable that the Inds love the challenge, whereas ours a rabbits in the headlights

 

[apnapind]

But if our bowlers do well( which is pretty rare), our batsman wilt under pressure( Sydney 2010). Its noticeable that the Inds love the challenge, whereas ours a rabbits in the headlights

Bro but this team has shown tough mentality i think just like sri lanka series we gonna see our boys put up a great show.

 

[Bewal Express]

Bro but this team has shown tough mentality i think just like sri lanka series we gonna see our boys put up a great show.

I hope so, but history shows otherwise

 

[apnapind]

I hope so, but history shows otherwise

Ya hopefully bro

 

[apnapind]

I hope so, but history shows otherwise

Bro do u think we should take a chance and play nauman and abrar aus are not really that good against spin who knows aus might even crumble in aus against them?

 

[ZaidTR]

It was pretty nice series

 

[Bewal Express]

Bro do u think we should take a chance and play nauman and abrar aus are not really that good against spin who knows aus might even crumble in aus against them?

Although he did well in the 2nd innings, Nauman is amongst the worst spinners ever to play for PK. As far as Abrar is concerned, he can't play as a lone spinner against Aus in Australia because Babar would be left without any guy that could stem the run rate. I hope I am wrong Abrar is a real threat but on those hard Aussie wickets, I don't see it. The problem is the lack of alternatives- Mehran bowls quicker than Hasan Ali,Zafar can't turn the ball and Sajid is just awful.

 

[apnapind]

Although he did well in the 2nd innings, Nauman is amongst the worst spinners ever to play for PK. As far as Abrar is concerned, he can't play as a lone spinner against Aus in Australia because Babar would be left without any guy that could stem the run rate. I hope I am wrong Abrar is a real threat but on those hard Aussie wickets, I don't see it. The problem is the lack of alternatives- Mehran bowls quicker than Hasan Ali,Zafar can't turn the ball and Sajid is just awful.

Ya agree with all the points you made bro how do u see our team in odis vs afg and asia cup do we have a good chance winning it?

 

[Bewal Express]

Ya agree with all the points you made bro how do u see our team in odis vs afg and asia cup do we have a good chance winning it?

The Afghans are real handful and in SL, on these turners they will be tough with their World class spinners. In the Asia Cup, only one game matters and hopefully we can win that.

 

[apnapind]

The Afghans are real handful and in SL, on these turners they will be tough with their World class spinners. In the Asia Cup, only one game matters and hopefully we can win that.

Ya true its gonna be great to watch how our team does against afghan spinners.

 

[Major]

Sri lanka is a minnow, and thats how Pakistan treated them. This is what India should had done against WEst Indies.

Lets see if Pakistan will carryon with this approach, i doubt they will.

 

[Ali T]

Was a great series for Pakistan but am not entirely convinced by our spinning options. They were impressive with the ball but were also helped by spinning friendly conditions.

Impressed with Agha Salman but question marks around how well he’ll do outside the subcontinent.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Pakistan's problems in Australia are primarily bowling. You can't habitually concede 500 plus runs in every innings. You need to restrict Australia to around 300 maximum. Pakistan's batting line up is good enough to score 300-400 runs in Australia but the bowlers have to be able to take 10 wickets in effective fashion every innings.

Apart from Shaheen and Naseem, who will tie down the Australian batting lineup? That will be the key question for Pakistan. Not just Indian seamers, even the spinners kept them in check. You can't afford weak links in your bowling attack. They will target the weak link ruthlessly. Is Abrar up to that challenge?

 

[PakHammer]

Strangley Shan took the new Pakistan approach to the letter and helped even through he did not get a bit score in the series. We never got this approach from Azhar Ali at number 3, so he did gave the team momentum.
Obviously we have to see what happens in Australia but Pakistan's test team deserves credit and appreciation for their performance.

How many times have we said that about Pakistan's test team in the past year?

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Got to give credit to Bradburn and Athur for this new approach.

So refreshing to see, but Pak's real test will begin against better sides outside Asia.

 

[Firebat]

Don't think Pakistan can play that fast, free-flowing stuff in Australia. But refreshing to see them move up with the times finally, should always be scoring at least @ 3.5 RPO.

 

[MenInG]

Don't think Pakistan can play that fast, free-flowing stuff in Australia. But refreshing to see them move up with the times finally, should always be scoring at least @ 3.5 RPO.

One thing Australia showed in England was to not be bothered by what the opposition is doing but to have a strategy of their own and just play with that.

If that means playing out the new ball for a few overs without slogging then that's fine for me. But there needs to be a plan for each innings.

 

[Cric1234]

The farts of philosophy came to fruition as what I’ve been saying for years was finally implemented by the management and Captain leading to a series victory.

It will be harder against better teams as the weakness of our batsmen will be exposed more but playing a more aggressive brand of cricket and losing is better than playing slowly and losing.

 

[sweep_shot]

Pakistan mauled Sri Lanka overall.

Saud Shakeel was brilliant.

 

[Markhor]

Firstly a warm hello to my cricketing brothers and sisters again.

Watching the Sri Lanka Tests without any online interaction reminded me of my childhood when I'd get up early for home series and switch on ARY Digital. It was actually refreshing to just watch without distractions.

Pakistan were absolutely magnificent. The home Tests against Australia, England and New Zealand last year nearly killed off my passion for Pakistan cricket. The combination of timid tactics and docile pitches made for the worst advert for Test cricket. This series restored that passion.

We batted, bowled and fielded like demons. Our batting was like a refined version of Bazball. We scored quickly but recognised when to dial it down, e.g. when Saud Shakeel batted with the tail and extended that all-important 1st inns lead. Despite losing 6 wickets in the chase, I never felt we were in trouble.

At SSC, we ground SL into the dust. The footwork against the spinners was superb - especially from Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel and Salman Agha (who should bat at 6). That was one of the most one-sided Tests I've ever seen.

The fielding - WOW. The short leg catch by Imam from Samarawickrama in Galle was a highlight.

Admittedly our bowling was helped by some shoddy Sri Lankan batting. Only Dhananjaya de Silva batted with any responsibility. But Shaheen didn't look like someone making their Test comeback after 12 months in Galle, and Naseem was outstanding in SSC. He simply blew their tail away in the 2nd dig. I was giving Noman Ali pelters in my living room in the 1st inns at Galle but he improved as the series progressed. Abrar bowled well and some of the SL boys like Samarawickrama were clearly not picking him.

Replicating this in Australia will be tough, but we've tried playing "traditional Test cricket" there and our record is 0-14. If you're gonna compete with the Aussies, this positive approach is the way.