Dimuth Karunaratne:
In the Galle Test we had to stand up after we won’t the toss, 160 was not going to be enough. We knew it was flat and a lot of our batsmen threw the wickets and that was the turning point. We couldn’t capitalise after getting starts. Batters were getting 20s, 30s but nobody got a hundred. That’s what Pakistan were able to do and we’re on the losing side. We have to sit down and talk about what went wrong, what we should do when the ball is turning or reversing. Do we have to step out and attack? They batted really well, they rotated the strike, and these things we have to learn. We couldn’t rotate the strike and kept looking for boundaries.
Not too many Tests coming up is challenging, that’s how it’s been for the last few years. It’s really tough but the players have to mentally step up, play domestic cricket, keep their fitness up. For me there are no small positives except that Prabath Jayasuriya controlled his line and length, and Dhananjaya de Silva had a good series. Otherwise we didn’t have a good series or small positives.
Babar Azam:
Very proud to win this series and all credit to guys and the support staff for working so hard in the last 3-4 months. Everyone stepped up and showed hunger to win this series. To be honest we haven’t ticked all the boxes, but we are working on our batting and fielding. The way our bowlers bowled here was good because there wasn’t much and especially today to put pressure on them. It’s a team game, but we’ve had outstanding innings in both Test matches from Saudi, Salman, Abdullah Shafique. We’re looking series by series in the coming [white-ball] games and will try to perform well. Being aggressive was part of the plan, it’s something we had discussed before coming here. We wanted to play positive cricket. So all the credit to the boys. It’s not easy to play spin here but they played very well.
Abdullah Shafique is the Player of the Match: I’d like to thank Allah that we’ve won a series here. We really needed it and it’s a confidence booster for us. It’s pleasing to win and I’m very happy. Yeah, you can say that (it’s a happy hunting ground for me). I contributed in my team’s victory and that’s important.
Agha Salman is the Player of the Series: We were 100 for 5 and I spoke to Saud and said we need to build a partnership. We wanted to be positive and that’s how we had prepared in our camps in Lahore and Karachi. We wanted to play a positive brand of cricket and that’s how we had worked on our skills. I don’t mind batting at No. 5, 6 or 7, I’m just happy to play for Pakistan. I just try to play positive cricket.
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test Highlights 2023, Thursday 27-7. Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka 2023, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo.
Toss: Sri Lanka chose to bat.
Pakistan team: Abdullah, Imam, Shan, Babar (capt), Sarfaraz (wk), Saud, Agha, Noman, Naseem, Abrar, Shaheen.
Sri Lanka team: Sri Lanka: Dimuth (capt), Nishan, Kusal, Angelo, Dinesh, Dhananjaya, Sadeera (wk), Ramesh, Prabath, Asitha, Dilshan.
Head to Head In Test’s: 58
Pakistan Won: 22
Sri Lanka Won: 17
Pakistan Test Rankings: 6th
Sri Lanka Test Rankings: 7th
Form guide
(last five completed Tests, most recent first)
Pakistan WDDLL
Sri Lanka LWWLL
Match Timings: 2 PM GMT | 10 AM Local
Umpires – Alex Wharf, Chris Gaffaney
TV Umpire – Rod Tucker
Match Referee – David Boon
Reserve Umpire – Raveendra Wimalasiri
Match number – Test no. 2514
