It was a series to celebrate for the Pakistan cricket team as they scored an easy win against the host Sri Lanka by 2-0. Babar Azam’s men won the first Test match at the Galle International Stadium in Galle by four wickets and followed it up with an easy win by an innings and 222 runs at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo in the second Test match.
Both games saw the domination of the Pakistan batters as they made the most of the batting-friendly surfaces and hammered the Sri Lankan bowlers all over the park. The visiting bowlers were not behind as they continued the momentum and the tone set by the batters to ensure a win for their team.
Let us check out the report card of the Pakistan players:
Top Order
Abdullah Shafique (6.5/10): The opening batter Abdullah Shafique earned a lot of brownie points during the two-match Test series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka for his impressive performance with the bat. Shafique ended up as the second-highest run-scorer for Pakistan and third-highest in the overall list with 228 runs in three innings at an average of 76.
The opener could not make much of an impact in the first Test match as he was dismissed at scores of 19 and 8 runs respectively across two innings. However, the second Test witnessed a powerful performance by the 23-year-old as he smacked a double hundred. Shafique’s knock of 201 runs off 326 balls included 19 boundaries and four maximums.
Imam-ul-Haq (3/10): It was a series to forget for Imam-ul-Haq as unlike his opening partner Abdullah Shafique, he failed to deliver a memorable performance. In the first batting innings of the first Test match, Haq scored only one run. The batter redeemed himself in the second batting innings by scoring a half-century.
However, he could not continue the momentum and ended up getting dismissed by Asitha Fernando at a score of 6 runs in the only batting innings of Pakistan in the second Test.
Shan Masood (3/10): Coming to bat at number three for the Pakistan cricket team, Shan Masood was also not much impressive. He occupied the seventh place in the run-scoring charts with 97 runs in three innings at an average of under 33. Masood got off to a good start in the second innings of the first Test but could not prolong his stay and ended up walking back at a score of 39 runs.
The final innings saw him scoring only seven runs. Meanwhile, it was the second Test match that saw the best performance by Masood as he hit a fifty.
Middle Order
Babar Azam (2/10): The Pakistan skipper Babar Azam needs to be lauded for his impressive leadership skills during the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. He perfectly rotated the bowlers and helped his team win by 2-0. However, it was a failure of Azam, the batter, during the Test series.
He played all three batting innings but could score only 76 runs at an average of less than 26.
Saud Shakeel (8/10): The middle-order batter Saud Shakeel was a vital cog as Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka. He finished as the top run-scorer with 295 runs to his name in three innings at an astonishing average of over 147 and strike rate of over 57.
Saud Shakeel hammered a hundred against Sri Lanka.
The 27-year-old was impeccable during the first innings of Pakistan in Galle with a knock of 208 runs off 361 balls.
Sarfaraz Ahmed (1.5/10): The wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed was a letdown for the Pakistan team against Sri Lanka. In the first Test, his score read 17 runs and 1 run respectively. Meanwhile, in the second Test, he scored only 14 runs off 22 balls before falling prey to concussion and walking out of the field.
Mohammad Rizwan (5/10): Mohammad Rizwan got a chance to showcase his batting mettle in the second Test as a concussion replacement for Sarfaraz Ahmed. The wicketkeeper-batter looked good in his only outing as played an unbeaten innings of 50 runs off 67 balls to help Pakistan post a big total of 576 runs.
Agha Salman (9/10): Agha Salman was one of the key players for Pakistan as he made contributions both with the bat and the ball. Salman was the third-highest run-scorer for Pakistan and fourth overall with 221 runs in three innings at a stunning average of 221.00.
His best performance came during the second Test match as he smacked 132 runs after facing 154 balls in the middle staying not out till the declaration. Meanwhile, Salman also picked three wickets across two matches at an average of 21. The 29-year-old all-rounder took the Player of the Series award home for his impeccable performance.
Bowlers
Noman Ali (7.5/10): Noman Ali was one of the top performers for Pakistan with the ball as he picked a whopping ten wickets at an average of 21. However, he was not much effective with the bat as he could not score even 50 runs across two innings. In the first Test, Ali scored 25 and zero runs respectively while he did not get a chance to play in the second Test as Pakistan declared the innings at a score of 576-5.
Shaheen Afridi (4/10): Pakistan’s pace sensation Shaheen Afridi did not look in his element during the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka as he failed to live up to his reputation. The seamer picked only six wickets in four innings after bowling a considerable 60 overs at an average of 37.33 and an economy rate of 3.73.
Naseem Shah (6/10): The other fast bowler in Pakistan’s line-up, Naseem Shah was relatively better as he picked nine wickets in 65.4 overs at an average of 23.30 and an economy rate of 3.15. Shah’s best performance in the series came in the second Test match as he picked three wickets each across both innings to take his total to six wickets.
Abrar Ahmed (7/10): The Sri Lankan pitches are traditionally known for favoring the spinners and Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed made full use of the same. The 24-year-old topped the wicket-taking charts with ten wickets to his name at an average of 23.90. He also boasted of having the best economy rate in the Test series i.e. 2.77.
Ahmed’s best came in the first innings of the second Test as he picked a total of four wickets at an economy rate of 3.3 to restrict Sri Lanka to a score of 166 runs in 48.4 overs.