Did Pakistan took it too Easy? Or was Sri Lanka too tough to handle? An Insight to recent Test Match Series between Pakistan vs Sri Lanka.

Overview

A few weeks back, A test team seeking redemption for quite some time and on a rebuilding phase shocked the cricketing community by defeating a team which carries loads of experience, a recent ODI fame and prescribed as lethal in their home grounds, we are talking about none other than the recently completed test series between Sri Lanka & Pakistan in UAE. 

Before the start of the test series, No one would have thought this result despite Pakistan had no longer the MISYou Duo (Misbah Ul Haq, Younis Khan), the team still supposed to carry enough experience and talent. A far settled test side than its competitors apparently. Most cricket experts and the Pakistani fans thought that Sri Lanka is down and out after the recent thrashing from India in their last test venture and it would be a monumental task for them to give tough time to the well-settled strong Pakistan side in the hot UAE conditions. All speculations and conclusions proved wrong in the end as to everyone’s surprise Sri Lanka clinched the two-match test series with 2-0. Shocking isn't it? Let’s take a little inside look on the matches

The First Encounter

On a flat track of Abu Dhabi, The first test match started. It was the first venture of Sarfraz as Pakistan test captain and on the other hand, Sri Lanka searching for their good things had luck on its side, the guests won the toss and decided to bat first. Pakistan team management went with three full-time pacers M. Aamir, M. Abbas and Champions Trophy Man of the Series Hasan Ali. In the spin department, the plan was to go with one genuine leg-spinner Yasir Shah and with some part-timers in the form of Haris Sohail and Asad Shafiq. It was quite tough for the pacemen to bowl in the first innings in hot and humid conditions of UAE. On the other hand, it seemed that Sarfraz’s strategy with bowling looked more of experimentation than banking on his bowlers strength. It more looked like a one-day game strategy than a test match which requires calmness, consistency, and stability. The rapid change of bowling spells and the introduction of part-timers quite early in the game didn’t work out. Nevertheless, Sri Lankan batsmen played quite well too and put a decent 1st innings score on board. 

Pakistan hit back with a good score but perhaps should have done a bit more to capture the lead of at least 50 runs but able to get only 3 runs lead in the first innings. Yasir Shah as expected came hard in second innings and played a major role in booking Sri Lanka to 138 runs. Pakistan only required 136 runs to grab the first match but the problem was it was a 5th-day pitch. On paper though it sounded quite an easy job, Everyone back home was relieved that it’s gonna be a piece of cake for Pakistani batting lineup but probably deep in hearts of every Pakistani cricket fan had the feeling that when Pakistan is chasing in general and on 5th day in a test match in special, One cannot rule out a major collapse. It can happen and unfortunately, it happened. The bitter reality played its masterstroke one more time, Pakistan collapsed and collapsed big as the entire team got out on 114, and Sri Lanka won a dramatic test match by 21 runs.

Pakistan did what they do best, an unpredictable side which produces results on extreme ends. This time the turn was for the bad. An experienced Hearth turned out damaging for some inexperienced young batsmen. Azhar and Shafiq couldn’t resist, however one positive from Pakistan side was a very good test debut by Haris Sohail. Coming after almost 2 years gap from an injury and scoring runs at a very difficult No.6 position shows his talent and future for Pakistan Cricket. All eyes were set on second test match to take revenge.

The Final Battle

The final test match was a pink ball day/night outing in Dubai. Lucky Sri Lanka won the toss again and chose the winning formula to bat first. Pakistan didn’t learn from the 1st test mistakes and instead of going with an extra spinner to hold an edge, the team management again decided to go with the same formula of having three pacers and one leg spinner, the only change was the return of Wahab Riaz in place of injured Hasan Ali. Results were no less different, Sri Lanka again piled up a decent score on the board. Pakistan, in reply this time couldn’t meet up the expectations and give Sri Lanka a heavy lead of 220 runs.

The second innings of SL was a nightmare for them, Wahab Riaz made a strong comeback well supported by Yasir Shah and Haris Sohail, Pakistan got able to restrict SL on 96 runs. Probably the comeback was little late as Pakistan required a big total to chase for to level the series. The innings went off to a bad start, the openers intent was poor and confused, The fresh pair failed again, middle order collapsed and at one point it seemed like that Pakistan would book under 100 to 150 runs, Shafiq and Sarfraz took charge and expressed some good intentions to fight the big total. Asad Shafiq (a regular No.6 batsman under Misbah’s captaincy) came back to his form and scored a century, Sarfraz supported Shafiq well with some positive shots down the ground. The momentum looked great and just when things were going in right direction, one bad sweep shot by Sarfraz changed the whole scenario on the 5th day, The rest of the batsmen then couldn’t resist further, Shafiq’s century gone in vain again, he got out because of extra pressure and Sri Lanka won the match with bigger margin than the first match with 68 runs.

The late hard work didn't pay off but Shafiq regained his test form

Series Analysis

If we see the overall picture of the test series we came to a conclusion that though it was an unexpected and to be fair a shocking clean sweep from Sri Lanka, We must admire the side who played with more conviction, belief, and intent than hosts and as a result better team won the series on the given days. SL conviction, old school campaigner Hearth, and Pakistan’s over-confidence was the major difference between the two sides. Sri Lanka wanted to prove something while Pakistan was looking to march on an already established route i.e. “Continue the winning streak”

After the retirements of Misbah and Younis, The side was going with a new captain and a fresh combination, the team banked on Shafiq, Azhar, and Azam as middle order strength to fill the gap of two greats but every gap fills with time. Right combination and consistency are keys which Misbah achieved in his leadership over time. It will take a while for Pakistan to have a settled test match lineup. One can also say that Pakistan didn’t lose because of lacking one extra spinner but rather the lost was because the batting didn’t click up to the expectations. I think to summarize the combination and mindset weren't perfect.

Sri Lanka has a long way to go. The clean sweep is certainly a major boost for them as a team and their fans back home. Russel Arnold and Roshan were rejoicing and why not they have taken a big step towards their redemption in test cricket.

Don't know about Witch spell, But Hearth's magic worked for sure!

Closing Remarks

Pakistani fans and experts did take this series easy for sure, Pakistan team, well maybe took it a bit easy and paid the price ultimately. The MisYou factor did play its part in a number of ways, not only their absence hit on psychological grounds but also in formulating a right combination. Pakistan went with a fresh opening pair. The top 3 batsmen set the mood of a game, Shan Masood and Sami Aslam, unfortunately, fell into the trap to secure their own positions first than to play some fearless cricket. Shehzad was left out of the squad for some unknown reasons despite having a fine run in the last test series against West Indies. Aamir looked fatigue and first innings efforts by Sri Lankans dried up the bowlers. In the end, the series result can't be called too disappointing for Pakistan because the shades of positivity were there and one can see that with a right combination, better planning and more test matches can settle Pakistan Test Cricket back into a good shape. It will take some time and for that, let’s wait for 2018

About the Writer:

A passionate Cricket lover and likes to opine his views on things related to Cricket from real-time matches to cricket video games