For the first time since the Multan Test of 2004, or 38 Tests, Pakistan started a Test without Danish Kaneria. They were always going to play three fast bowlers, and going to field first if they won the toss. And they did win it.
Two of those fast bowlers were debutants - the 17-year-old Mohammad Aaamer and the 30-year-old Abdur Rauf. So was Kaneria's replacement, Saeed Ajmal, perhaps getting the nod by the virtue of being an offspinner against Sri Lanka's ready supply of left-hand batsmen.
Amid the debutants, Mohammad Yousuf made a comeback, becoming the first ICL player to play a Test again. Yousuf took Faisal Iqbal's place.
Sri Lanka didn't want to hold back bold moves either, going in without a specialist wicketkeeper. Instead they gave a Test cap to Angelo Mathews, which meant either Kumar Sangakkara or Tillakaratne Dilshan would have to keep. The 31-year-old left-arm spinner Rangana Herath replaced Muttiah Muralitharan who injured his knee during practice. Unlike Pakistan, Sri Lanka went in with only two medium-pacers, Nuwan Kulasekara and the left-armer Thilan Thushara. Mathews provided them the fifth-bowler option.
Pakistan: 1 Salman Butt, 2 Khurram Manzoor, 3 Younis Khan (capt), 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Saeed Ajmal, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Mohammad Aamer, 11 Abdur Rauf
Sri Lanka: 1 Malinda Warnapura, 2 Tharanga Paranavitana, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Thilan Thushara, 10 Ajantha Mendis, 11 Rangana Herath
Friday, July 3, 2009
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