Sri Lanka's Dunith Wellalage (left) and Pakistan's Babar Azam (right).
Credit: PTI, Reuters Photos
Sri Lanka should have sealed their spot in the finals with a win over India on Tuesday night. Instead, they buckled despite plenty going their way and allowed India to enter the summit tie.
As a result of this, Dasun Shanaka’s men have to try and get it done against Pakistan on Thursday, and it will not be an easy task in their Super Four tie of the Asia Cup.
Sure, should Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah - both of whom were injured during the game against India - not be available, Sri Lanka will feel a bit better placed.
Still, this is Pakistan and there is no such thing as an easy game against them.
While one could argue against that, saying they were shellacked by the Indians in their previous outing, where they lost by 228 runs on the reserve day, it bodes well to remember Babar Azam’s men have been exceptional in all facets for over four months now.
They were bound to have an off day sooner rather than later. In fact, their coach Grant Bradburn insinuated much the same during the post-match press conference of that contest, saying: “We’d rather lose now, however badly, and do well in the upcoming games.”
In contrast, Sri Lanka, who too have enjoyed quite the streak with 13 ODIs on the trot before losing on Tuesday, will not be so glad to have that kind of loss under their belt.
It’s a problem Sri Lanka have had for a while. What isn’t a problem is their bowling. With plenty of pace and four quality spin options, the hosts can make life hard for their opponents.
India found out on Tuesday. Pakistan might on Thursday.
Squads:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir (travelling reserve). Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan (back-ups for injured Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah).
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Pathum Nissanaka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Janith Perera, Kusal Mendis (vice-captain), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Matheesha Pathirana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushan Hemantha, Binura Fernando, Pramod Madushan.
Match starts 3 PM IST.