Whenever Pakistan and Sri Lanka face off, you are rest assured that an exciting and mouth watering series is on its way and this year was no different as well.
Pakistan won both the test series and One Day series after a lengthy gap of nine years. The ODI win meant that their champion’s trophy spot is virtually confirmed barring no further debacles. The test series was more closely fought as compared to the shorter format. Although the score line predicts otherwise, it was quite clear that Pakistan were the better team.
Coming to the T20 series, this is scheduled to begin from today at R Premadasa Stadium Colombo. Shahid Afridi will be leading the pack whereas Lasith Malinga will be captaining the islanders. Confidence level will be high for Pakistan but that does not mean that the Lankans would prove to be easy opponents for them, especially during the shortest format of the game where nothing can be said for sure.
The two teams have met each other 12 times in a T20 match. The Lankans have won 7 out of those matches and thus have the better record. While narrowing it down to matches played in Sri Lanka both teams have won two matches each so nothing separates them in Lankan conditions. The last time these rivals met at R Premadasa stadium Sri Lanka won by 16 runs.
The players that will be under the spot light include Kausal Perera who struck a 17 ball 50 in the second ODI along with teammates Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga who are experts in the T20 format.
For Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi will be the player to watch out for as whenever he is on the field a lot is expected of him and you never know when he might tear apart the opposition in a blitz. Others include Mukhtar Ahmed and Shoaib Malik who were influential in the recently concluded T20 series win, at home, versus Zimbabwe.
Loads of new players will be on show during the T20 series as both the teams have decided to showcase new talent rather than turning to the tried and tested individuals.
Squads
Sri Lanka
Lasith Malinga (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Kithruwan Vithanage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Chamara Kapugedera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Thisara Perera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Kulasekara, Binura Fernando, Chaturanga de Silva, Milinda Siriwardana
Pakistan
Shahid Afridi (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Nauman Anwar, Mohammad Hafeez, Mukhtar Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Sohail Tanvir, Imad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Zia-ul-Haq
Ranking
Sri Lanka is the top ranked side in T20s whereas Pakistan is hanging on to the 5th spot. Whatever the result the Lankan side will remain at the top but for Pakistan the implications are different. A 2-nil series win here will mean that they will jump to the number three spot but any other result will mean that they will stay at number 5.
As I conclude this preview I think Pakistan is clear favorites to win the series as Sri Lanka are less experienced as compared to Pakistan and Lankans are still trying to find replacements for Sangakkara and Mahela Jaywardene in their side.
Exciting times ahead as both teams lock horns and fight it out !
