KARACHI: Hosts Pakistan take on visiting Sri Lanka in the first one-day international of a three-match series at National Stadium Karachi here Friday (today). Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed yesterday thanked the Sri Lankan team for visiting Pakistan and urged other foreign boards to also reconsider their approach towards Pakistan. He said that international cricket was incomplete without Pakistan. A decade ago, the touring Sri Lankan team was attacked by terrorists in Lahore, leaving a few players injured. Since then not much cricket has been played in Pakistan amid security concerns. In the attacks, six players were injured while six Pakistan policemen and two civilians were killed. Post the attacks, Zimbabwe were the first country to return in 2015, with Pakistan hosting the West Indies, Sri Lanka, and a World XI team thereafter. Sri Lanka are back in Pakistan, and only after plenty of to and from between both countries, that the visitors have agreed to go ahead with the tour. The clearances only came in last-week, but it was not enough to convince all of Sri Lanka’s top players to make the trip as ten made themselves unavailable for selection. But still the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hopes that top-flight cricket will really set about putting its roots down in the country this time.
“Pakistan has delivered a clear message and now it’s time for other boards to reconsider their approach towards playing in Pakistan. Being a team and a nation, I request all boards to support cricket in Pakistan,” Sarfaraz told a press conference while talking about some international players who reportedly accused India of forcing them not to visit Pakistan.
Talking about the pitch and the field in Karachi, he said, “We haven’t seen the pitch as yet, I have only an idea that which type of pitches are made in stadiums here. As far as out field is concerned I would say that ‘when it rains, water comes down’,” the skipper said, playfully using a phrase uttered by PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari about rains in Sindh that had gone viral on social media. For Pakistan’s cricketers, especially the likes of Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz, this series is a chance bounce back into the scheme of things. They will however miss the dynamic Shaheen Afridi (Dengue) and Hasan Ali (back injury). Mohammad Hasnain and Mohammad Hafeez have been left out while Shoaib Malik will only come into the team for the T20Is.
Sarfaraz added: “It is easy to claim that we will score 450 or 500 runs but to achieve this target an entire process is required. In modern-day cricket, the role of the first three to four batsmen has become very crucial. All those teams scoring more than 300 runs are able to do so through a set-up under which openers show an exemplary start and the rest of the team carries it (forward). In order to score 400 runs, we need a set-up and we are planning to have it.” Talking about the performance of the Green Shirts, he said: “If you review the performance of the team during the past two and a half years, it has improved tremendously. We scored 300 runs during the World Cup; we have scored 350 and even touched 370. Our cricket is improving and we are trying to go ahead with this team.” He was confident that his decision to change the batting order to provide opportunity to other players for playing in opening positions was right.
Sri Lanka’s new look squad, without players like Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews, will also be worried of stand-in skipper Lahiru Thirimanne’s fitness, as the left-hander had complained of pain in his back while training ahead of the tour. Thirimanne gave a thumbs up to the security in Pakistan and termed the arrangements “first-class”. Speaking to media, the Sri Lanka captain said his side would play their best cricket and that the players’ focus was only on the game and not the security. Thirimanne, 30 added that it was a good challenge for Sri Lanka’s young players to play in Pakistan. “They would give their best in the three games against a top-quality side,” he concluded.
Squads
Pakistan (possible): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Haris Sohail, 5 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 6 Asif Ali, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Usman Shinwari
Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Lahiru Thirimanne (capt), 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), 5 Oshada Fernando, 6 Shehan Jayasuriya, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Wanindu Hasaranga, 10 Lakshan Sandakan, 11 Nuwan Pradeep