 Pakistan will look to avenge the loss in the first test match against Sri Lanka
when they take on the hosts at the P.Sara stadium in Colombo. Sri Lanka had won
the first test match at Galle and now leads the series 1-0, after they had come
back from behind to restrict Pakistan to 50 runs short of the total of 168.
Sri Lanka should be bolstered by the return of Muttiah Muralitharan
into their squad; after he had missed the first test match due to injury. However,
the question that may befuddle the Sri Lanka selectors and team management is
about Rangan Herath, who was the man-of-the-match in the first game. Going in
with three spinners may not make sense, especially not on a track which has
equal help for both, the pace bowlers and the spinners.
And talking of the pace bowlers, the troika of Nuwan Kulasekera, Angelo
Mathew and Thilan Thushara had a rather good outing in the first
test and the Sri Lankan management may not want to get them out of the squad.
The other embarrassment of riches that the Sri Lankans may have to face is
with the fitness of their frontline wicket-keeper, Kaushal Silva. He
was injured before the start of the first test match and T.Dilshan took over
the gloves and did a remarkable job. However, if Silva is fit and makes it back
into the team along with Muralitharan, two of the winning team members will
need to be excluded from the playing eleven!
For Pakistan, they were on top of the game for most part of three days. One
bad session on the fourth - which incidentally was the last session as well
- and the game was sent out of their reach. Salman Butt has been going
through a rough patch with the bat, but he seemed to have overcome his issues
and looked like he could just be clawing his way back into reckoning when he
played that awful shot in the second innings that started the Pakistani downfall.
Apart from him, the middle order does look good enough with the return of Mohammad
Yousuf, but the captain may still be tempted to play Abdul Razzaq in the
side. If Razzaq has to be brought in, there is one of the two options; get Shoaib Malik out or have Abdur Rauf replaced. Malik has lost most of the bowling
skills he possessed, especially in the five-day format, while Rauf had a very
decent first outing.
However, just like one swallow never made a summer, a singular loss may not
change too much for Younus Khan. The only change he may want to go in with is
that of Salman Butt, but with no other opener in the squad, it will be interesting
to see how they go about this predicament.
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