SL-Pak series begins tomorrow in new ICC World Test Championship cycle

• Afridi eyeing 100 Test wickets could make life difficult for Sri Lanka

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka and Pakistan who failed to make it to the final of the ICC World Test Championship will be looking to make a strong start to the third edition 2023-25 when they commence a two-Test series at the Galle International Cricket Stadium tomorrow (Sunday).

Sri Lanka finished fifth in the final points table and Pakistan seventh, both teams having gone down drastically in the current ICC team rankings as well with Pakistan sixth and Sri Lanka seventh.

Pakistan no doubt will be strengthened by the return of their star bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi from injury who will searching for his 100th Test wicket, while Sri Lanka will be looking at handing a Test cap to 22-year-old uncapped left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka, who came in as replacement for Asitha Fernando. Fernando was ruled out of the first Test after being struck down by dengue fever, but has recovered sufficiently to bowl at the nets, thus making himself available for selection for the second Test starting in nine days.

After an impressive start to his white ball career Madushanka who has played 6 ODIs and 11 T20Is was recently Player of the Match in the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier final against Netherlands taking 3/18 in an impressive new ball spell. But on a surface which would largely assist spin, whether Sri Lanka would risk playing him is a matter of conjecture. With another left-arm seamer in the side, Vishwa Fernando the likely candidate to share the new ball would be Kasun Rajitha.

Off-spinner Lakshitha Manasinghe, another new face in the squad, is also unlikely to get a game at Galle, as the spin department is served well with plenty of them fighting for places in the eleven. Apart from Manasinghe there is the likes of Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis, the two spin twins who have in recent times shaped up several wins for Sri Lanka, Praveen Jayawickrama who has been recalled to the side after a year, Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva who offers plenty of overs of off-spin in his role as a middle-order batsman.

De Silva has been named vice-captain to Dimuth Karunaratne who has shown an inclination to step down from the captaincy ahead of the ICC World Test Championship new cycle, but asked to carry on by the national selectors for the Pakistan series. Karunaratne suffered a mild hamstring strain that kept him out of the ICC Men’s World Cup Qualifier final against Netherlands, but is expected to be fit to lead the side in the Pakistan series. As a precautionary measure Pathum Nissanka has been named. Nissanka has been out of favour in Test cricket since playing against Australia at Galle in July last year.

It was at Galle a year ago that Afridi played his last Test for Pakistan before he was struck down by injury when he landed awkwardly at the boundary line trying to stop the ball. Since then he has not played a first-class match except for white ball cricket. 

“I am very excited to be making my Test comeback in the country where I was injured,” Afridi said at the end of Pakistan’s two-day warm-up fixture against a Sri Lanka Cricket President’s XI which ended in a draw at Hambantota. Afridi warmed up for the big occasion taking three wickets for 36 bowling 12 overs at searing pace and lethal seam, reminiscent of his bowling, to knock out the opposition for 196.

“Injuries are a part of an athlete’s life, but it is good to be back. I enjoy red-ball cricket a lot and I am one wicket away from a century of Test wickets, which would be a big achievement for me,” said Afridi who has 99 wickets (avg. 24.86) from 25 Tests. “I was only one wicket away and the new ball was about to be available. I was planning to utilise it to reach that milestone, but I got injured before we got the new ball. So, I had to wait a lot. It’s tough to be away from cricket, but time has helped me learn a lot.”

Pakistan won the first Test played at Galle by four wickets with Afridi taking four wickets in the first innings, but bowled only seven overs in the second innings before he got injured. With Afridi out of the bowling attack Sri Lanka won the second Test also played at Galle by 246 runs to square the series one-all.

With Afridi all set to fire on all cylinders the Tests will be far from a cakewalk for Sri Lanka who will have a tough battle on their hands. 

The squads:

PAKISTAN FOR BOTH TESTS: Babar Azam (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Huraira, Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain/wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Aamer Jamal, Abrar Ahmed, Hassan Ali, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

SRI LANKA FOR FIRST TEST: Dimuth Karunaratne (captain), Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva (vice-captain), Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Kamindu Mendis, Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Praveen Jayawickrama, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka, Vishwa Fernando, Lakshitha Manasinghe.