The first Test match of the two-match series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be played on Saturday at the Galle International Cricket Stadium, Sri Lanka.
Pakistan team is high in spirit facing strong op-ponent Sri Lanka who recently defeated a strong team Australia by an innings and 39 runs. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are scheduled to play a two-match Test series. It will be a big challenge for Pakistan to win this Test series, certainly looking after the current form of the Sri Lankan team.
Sri Lanka also has a huge advantage in its home ground and crowd. On the other hand, Pakistan is most dependent on Shaheen Shah, Babar Azam, Yasir Shah and Mohammad Rizwan. Sri Lanka has a full all-round team which will be a big thing to defeat and in case of victory in the World Test Championship, Pakistan will be ahead of India in the final race. So far 55 Test matches have been played between the two teams out of which Pakistan has won 20 and Sri Lanka 19 matches while 19 matches have ended without any result.
The innings was declared at the National Stadium on February 21, 2009 by scoring 765 runs for the loss of six wickets. In the same Test match, Sri Lanka also declared the innings at 644 runs for the loss of six wickets.
A total of 1553 runs were scored in the Test match and only 18 wickets were lost. Pakistan has won ten and Sri Lanka seven series so far. Five series between the two teams ended in a draw.
Younis Khan, who scored 313 runs at the Na-tional Stadium Karachi on February 21, 2009 with a highest individual score. The best individual innings for Sri Lanka was played by Sant Jayasuriya when he played 253 runs at Faisalabad on October 20, 2004.
The last match between the two teams was played from December 19-23, 2019 at the National Stadium in Karachi in which Pakistan had won by 263 runs.
In the last eleven Test matches, Sri Lanka’s weight is heavy. In these eleven matches, Sri Lanka won six matches while Pakistan won four matches and one Test. The match was scary.
Ahead of the team’s World Test Championship Series, Pakistan captain Babar Azam said he was trying to change the way Test cricket is played. It’s not easy for batsmen when the other team dominates you. Pakistan captain Babar Azam has described the lack of his Test team. Pakistan’s slow batting during its last home series against Australia was criticized. The team averaged more than three runs in a single innings in the series.
Before the first Test match, Babar Azam admitted that his team needed to make an adjustment between taking an aggressive stance in Test cricket and play-ing according to the circumstances. “We are trying to change the way Test cricket is played,” Babar Azam said ahead of the team’s upcoming series against Sri Lanka in the World Test Championship.
It’s not easy for batsmen when the other team dominates you. “After 2015 we are going to Sri Lanka, we have prepared for the wickets there and we know the conditions there,” Babar Azam said. “Our batsmen are in good form.” He has just per-formed well in practice matches so hopefully he will perform well.
“The Sri Lankan team is made up of young players with only two or three senior players. Every team at home is dangerous and the Sri Lankan team knows how to play in their conditions and we will plan to dismiss the batsmen early because unless we dismiss 20 players, we cannot win the match.
Asked about the changing trend of Test cricket and Pakistan’s strategy in batting aggressively, Babar said, “Everything takes time. We have to play according to the situation on the field. That’s the ef-fort.” In order to achieve the goal, we as a team are also focusing on the fact that no matter what the situation, we have to play positive cricket.
On the tour of Sri Lanka, Babar Azam said, “We want to play positive regardless of the situation, but many times it is about a certain day, when you decide the strategy to win the match.” “You must remember that the beauty of Test cricket lies in adapting to the situation. —APP
