Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[pakhitheboss]

As expected Srilanka lost the first test match. The way Srilankan bowlers utilized the pitch in the first innings was incredible especially Jaysuriya's spin attack. Great comeback by the Pakistan side after devastating first innings, being an inconsistent team did not affect them this time. Abdullah Shafique's 160 contribution in the end lead to his team winning the first match.

[doomloop]

Pakistan should be proud of what they achieved. They won the match under extremely hostile conditions, thanks to their batsmen. Sri Lankan batsmen got unfair advantage from the pitch, and yet the Pak batsmen handed them well (Babar Azam in the first innings and Abdullah Shafique in the second innings). And Shafique showed how to bat under spin-friendly conditions. He showed a lot of patience and restrained from unwanted hits. And finally Mohammad Nawaz and Shaheen Shah Afridi also did their part with the ball.

There were too much speculation before start of this match because they were coming after losing series at home against Australia and Sri Lanka just draw a series against Australia which was best from them in last many years but good thing happening in Pakistan they won first match and having good advantage with second test match is also going to play here because of some unrest in Colombo.

Overall Pakistan were in good touch specially bowlers done good on right times and then batting in second inning were at their best because they are famous for their unpredictable nature but here they manage a big chase and now having third spot in WTC league table with this lost now Sri Lanka is slipped to fifth hopefully we will have good entertaining match after few days as Sri Lanka again will try their best for level of this series and Pakistan will try to win good battle between bat and bowl.

[JSRAW]

^^ let's be clear batters won the game for Pakistan not the bowlers, at best they were average except few dismissals.

Paki definitely found a new star opener in Shafique, he was extremely lucky on numerous times in his inning but fortune favors the brave. SL fielders missed the trick by not taking their chances of run out and catches. IMO Pakistan should go for another batter or may be spin allrounder in next match for clean sweep, although it would be tough but they do have better chance. Also 3 seamers in Galle doesn't make sense at all. Babar is lucky that no one talking about this because they won the match.

For SL well there bowlers need to be more discipline with the length. They provided lots of freebie and virtually no one supported Jayasuriya from other end except Dhananjaya but it was too late because skipper relied more on Mendis more and he had a poor outing overall.

[noormcs5]

Yeah they are 5 down but i think it's too late for SL now as Pak need only 44 runs so they should feel safe. SL need a miracle and bit of luck as i felt that they were really unlucky to not get any wickets early, especially Prabath Jayasuriya. He was troubling both the batters in the morning and almost got Rizwan's wicket on first ball of the day with a ripper.

Ramesh Mendis is bowling shit and Theekshana is struggling with finger injury. No one supporting Jayasuriya from other end.

Still I don't think that Pakistan's victory is confirmed. They have 5 wickets in hand, and Sri Lankan bowlers apart from Prabath Jayasuriya are not troubling the Pak batsmen. Anyway, the match will be decided within one hour after lunch. I expect Mohammad Nawaz and Yasir Shah (if needed) to bat sensibly and provide strike to Shafique. And the most important thing for Shafique to do will be to play in his own natural style. They need to remember that it is the Lankans who are desperate and not the Pakistanis.

Finally, Pakistan won this test match but if you see comments from the experts here, all of them were not sure if Pakistan would win even though the target was so close. It means that no one trusts the Pakistan team batting as it can collapse at any unexpected moment. 
Anyways it was a very good game of cricket where in the first innings both teams struggled but as the match progressed, the pitch also got better.

[topman21]

Yeah they are 5 down but i think it's too late for SL now as Pak need only 44 runs so they should feel safe. SL need a miracle and bit of luck as i felt that they were really unlucky to not get any wickets early, especially Prabath Jayasuriya. He was troubling both the batters in the morning and almost got Rizwan's wicket on first ball of the day with a ripper.

Ramesh Mendis is bowling shit and Theekshana is struggling with finger injury. No one supporting Jayasuriya from other end.

Still I don't think that Pakistan's victory is confirmed. They have 5 wickets in hand, and Sri Lankan bowlers apart from Prabath Jayasuriya are not troubling the Pak batsmen. Anyway, the match will be decided within one hour after lunch. I expect Mohammad Nawaz and Yasir Shah (if needed) to bat sensibly and provide strike to Shafique. And the most important thing for Shafique to do will be to play in his own natural style. They need to remember that it is the Lankans who are desperate and not the Pakistanis.

Finally, Pakistan won this test match but if you see comments from the experts here, all of them were not sure if Pakistan would win even though the target was so close. It means that no one trusts the Pakistan team batting as it can collapse at any unexpected moment. 
Anyways it was a very good game of cricket where in the first innings both teams struggled but as the match progressed, the pitch also got better.

I think Pakistan is not only the best in test cricket but also one of the best team in all three formats of world cricket. Currently, under the leadership of Babar Azam, Team Pakistan has been able to improve a lot. But they have managed to win the running Test match so far. My best wishes for the Pakistan team.

[JSRAW]

I think Pakistan is not only the best in test cricket but also one of the best team in all three formats of world cricket. Currently, under the leadership of Babar Azam, Team Pakistan has been able to improve a lot. But they have managed to win the running Test match so far. My best wishes for the Pakistan team.

Hmm good but i suggest don't take subcontinent wins for granted.

Subcontinent team success should be judge on SENA country and they failed to win any series when they had legendary players in the teams so let's be humble and see how this new era team progress when they start travelling SENA countries for Test cricket (regularly). So far they have been pathetic in my reading cause of expectations.

[Tony116]

Overall Pakistan were in good touch specially bowlers done good on right times and then batting in second inning were at their best because they are famous for their unpredictable nature but here they manage a big chase and now having third spot in WTC league table with this lost now Sri Lanka is slipped to fifth hopefully we will have good entertaining match after few days as Sri Lanka again will try their best for level of this series and Pakistan will try to win good battle between bat and bowl.

Pakistan's overall performance was very good. But their batsmen performed poorly in the first innings. Perhaps they could not adapt to the pitch. Opener Shafique's performance in the second innings is very commendable. Due to his innings of 160 runs, Pakistan did not face much problem to win the match. Also I would say the Pakistan bowler's performance was steady. We saw good performances from them in both innings.

[DanWalker]

Still I don't think that Pakistan's victory is confirmed. They have 5 wickets in hand, and Sri Lankan bowlers apart from Prabath Jayasuriya are not troubling the Pak batsmen. Anyway, the match will be decided within one hour after lunch. I expect Mohammad Nawaz and Yasir Shah (if needed) to bat sensibly and provide strike to Shafique. And the most important thing for Shafique to do will be to play in his own natural style. They need to remember that it is the Lankans who are desperate and not the Pakistanis.

Finally, Pakistan won this test match but if you see comments from the experts here, all of them were not sure if Pakistan would win even though the target was so close. It means that no one trusts the Pakistan team batting as it can collapse at any unexpected moment. 
Anyways it was a very good game of cricket where in the first innings both teams struggled but as the match progressed, the pitch also got better.

Abdullah Shafique played a significant role in the win of Pakistan in this match. It was not clear to me whether Pakistan was going to win this match or not. However, Pakistan proved they are a superior team, and despite their away conditions, they are not to be underestimated. Babar Azam also performed really well in this match. He has played well. Both in the first and second innings. And the pitch did get better, but not that much to be honest. This is going to be a huge boost for Pakistan because they beat Sri Lanka who was coming off a win against Australia.

[Webetcoins]

Finally, Pakistan won this test match but if you see comments from the experts here, all of them were not sure if Pakistan would win even though the target was so close. It means that no one trusts the Pakistan team batting as it can collapse at any unexpected moment. 
Anyways it was a very good game of cricket where in the first innings both teams struggled but as the match progressed, the pitch also got better.

Experts were not sure about Pakistan win because this is second-highest successful chase for Pakistan in their history with first is also against Sri Lanka in 2015 at Pallekele, and now they have again done this against same team, but stadium is different here they are playing amazing inning and specially Abdullah is a new hero for them in this successful chase because he was calm and good in all inning which was mostly dominant by Sri Lankan spinners specially Jayasuriya who takes 21 wickets in just 2 test matches and specially first two test matches of his career.

Sri Lankan was not good at fielding which cost them in lost, and they also need a good quality spinner which give good support to this debutant in coming matches because others were not good enough for having some better result in this match.

[Vaskiy]

I think Pakistan is not only the best in test cricket but also one of the best team in all three formats of world cricket. Currently, under the leadership of Babar Azam, Team Pakistan has been able to improve a lot. But they have managed to win the running Test match so far. My best wishes for the Pakistan team.

Hmm good but i suggest don't take subcontinent wins for granted.

Subcontinent team success should be judge on SENA country and they failed to win any series when they had legendary players in the teams so let's be humble and see how this new era team progress when they start travelling SENA countries for Test cricket (regularly). So far they have been pathetic in my reading cause of expectations.

This is true. The performance needs to be calculated based on how they play against SENA countries. Because, there everything varies and the Asian teams were to manage different things. The very starting is the weather conditions. Pakistan so far haven't made any big progress, whereas India have made few wins.

[JSRAW]

I think Pakistan is not only the best in test cricket but also one of the best team in all three formats of world cricket. Currently, under the leadership of Babar Azam, Team Pakistan has been able to improve a lot. But they have managed to win the running Test match so far. My best wishes for the Pakistan team.

Hmm good but i suggest don't take subcontinent wins for granted.

Subcontinent team success should be judge on SENA country and they failed to win any series when they had legendary players in the teams so let's be humble and see how this new era team progress when they start travelling SENA countries for Test cricket (regularly). So far they have been pathetic in my reading cause of expectations.

This is true. The performance needs to be calculated based on how they play against SENA countries. Because, there everything varies and the Asian teams were to manage different things. The very starting is the weather conditions. Pakistan so far haven't made any big progress, whereas India have made few wins.

This Pakistani team has every ingredient to succeed there tho. Historically they are good in England so Aus + NZ + SA should be their priority.

Hasan-Afridi already gained fair amount of experience now. Afridi in particular is future star, Naseem is new so he'll learn the art. I'm sure Pak also have fair amount of back up seamers.

Spin should be covered by Yasir Ali but they need his back up soon as he's getting old. It would be amazing if they can also find solid spin all rounder, may be 2 so that they can do bit of batting as well. Abdullah Shafique is looking promising opener but his next test would be against seamers when playing away so we have to wait for more. With Azhar Ali and Babar middle order seems safe, yeah Ali failed in the last test but he's amazing number 3 so not worry about him much. I just hope that they give some chance to Fawad Alam too when playing in seaming conditions.

[Sithara007]

This Pakistani team has every ingredient to succeed there tho. Historically they are good in England so Aus + NZ + SA should be their priority.

Hasan-Afridi already gained fair amount of experience now. Afridi in particular is future star, Naseem is new so he'll learn the art. I'm sure Pak also have fair amount of back up seamers.

Spin should be covered by Yasir Ali but they need his back up soon as he's getting old. It would be amazing if they can also find solid spin all rounder, may be 2 so that they can do bit of batting as well. Abdullah Shafique is looking promising opener but his next test would be against seamers when playing away so we have to wait for more. With Azhar Ali and Babar middle order seems safe, yeah Ali failed in the last test but he's amazing number 3 so not worry about him much. I just hope that they give some chance to Fawad Alam too when playing in seaming conditions.

Pakistan has all the ingredients except one. Their spin bowling looks really weak. I would say that it has remained that way ever since Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed retired almost two decades ago. Yasir Ali doesn't look impressive and he is inconsistent. I am amazed to see the inability of Pakistani selectors in finding new emerging spinners within their country. And this is the country from where Imran Tahir and Fawad Ahmed had to emigrate, because it was impossible for them to find a spot in the playing XI.

[S A KHAIR]

Pakistan has all the ingredients except one. Their spin bowling looks really weak. I would say that it has remained that way ever since Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed retired almost two decades ago. Yasir Ali doesn't look impressive and he is inconsistent. I am amazed to see the inability of Pakistani selectors in finding new emerging spinners within their country. And this is the country from where Imran Tahir and Fawad Ahmed had to emigrate, because it was impossible for them to find a spot in the playing XI.

The Pakistan teams team has several problems. Their spin attack is weak. So Pakistan bowlers are not able to do as well as before on Asian pitches. On the other hand, the results of Pakistan matches depend on certain players. Shafique, Babar Azam and Rizwan. If these three players do not play well, it becomes difficult for Pakistan to win. Other players in the team should also bat with more responsibility.

[rojan]

This Pakistani team has every ingredient to succeed there tho. Historically they are good in England so Aus + NZ + SA should be their priority.

Hasan-Afridi already gained fair amount of experience now. Afridi in particular is future star, Naseem is new so he'll learn the art. I'm sure Pak also have fair amount of back up seamers.

Spin should be covered by Yasir Ali but they need his back up soon as he's getting old. It would be amazing if they can also find solid spin all rounder, may be 2 so that they can do bit of batting as well. Abdullah Shafique is looking promising opener but his next test would be against seamers when playing away so we have to wait for more. With Azhar Ali and Babar middle order seems safe, yeah Ali failed in the last test but he's amazing number 3 so not worry about him much. I just hope that they give some chance to Fawad Alam too when playing in seaming conditions.

Pakistan has all the ingredients except one. Their spin bowling looks really weak. I would say that it has remained that way ever since Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed retired almost two decades ago. Yasir Ali doesn't look impressive and he is inconsistent. I am amazed to see the inability of Pakistani selectors in finding new emerging spinners within their country. And this is the country from where Imran Tahir and Fawad Ahmed had to emigrate, because it was impossible for them to find a spot in the playing XI.

Yes, you are right that the spin bowling line in Pakistan is a bit weak.  But I think Pakistan team is very strong.  They are leading in all aspects but they are lagging behind in one aspect. If they can make their spin bowling a little stronger then I think they will be a strong team in all aspects.

[Sithara007]

Yes, you are right that the spin bowling line in Pakistan is a bit weak.  But I think Pakistan team is very strong.  They are leading in all aspects but they are lagging behind in one aspect. If they can make their spin bowling a little stronger then I think they will be a strong team in all aspects.

If they want to beat pig-4 teams on a regular basis, then they need to have a well balanced team. And at this point, spin should be their biggest worry (doesn't mean that they are perfect in other departments). Also, they need to focus on the middle order. Top order batsmen such as Babar are getting the runs, but middle order is not being consistent. For now, middle order is low priority. They need to focus on spin bowling, if they want to perform well against the Asian teams such as India and Sri Lanka.

[JSRAW]

This Pakistani team has every ingredient to succeed there tho. Historically they are good in England so Aus + NZ + SA should be their priority.

Hasan-Afridi already gained fair amount of experience now. Afridi in particular is future star, Naseem is new so he'll learn the art. I'm sure Pak also have fair amount of back up seamers.

Spin should be covered by Yasir Ali but they need his back up soon as he's getting old. It would be amazing if they can also find solid spin all rounder, may be 2 so that they can do bit of batting as well. Abdullah Shafique is looking promising opener but his next test would be against seamers when playing away so we have to wait for more. With Azhar Ali and Babar middle order seems safe, yeah Ali failed in the last test but he's amazing number 3 so not worry about him much. I just hope that they give some chance to Fawad Alam too when playing in seaming conditions.

Pakistan has all the ingredients except one. Their spin bowling looks really weak. I would say that it has remained that way ever since Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed retired almost two decades ago. Yasir Ali doesn't look impressive and he is inconsistent. I am amazed to see the inability of Pakistani selectors in finding new emerging spinners within their country. And this is the country from where Imran Tahir and Fawad Ahmed had to emigrate, because it was impossible for them to find a spot in the playing XI.

Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed are very big name and it's hard to find such players. They had Saeed Ajmal for some time but he got banned by icc. I used to like Yasir Ali but yeah i agree lately he's  being bit dodgy with his form.

Pakistan has fast bowling culture and i think that's a main reason they failed to create another Saqlain.

[jaberwock]

Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed are very big name and it's hard to find such players. They had Saeed Ajmal for some time but he got banned by icc. I used to like Yasir Ali but yeah i agree lately he's  being bit dodgy with his form.

Pakistan has fast bowling culture and i think that's a main reason they failed to create another Saqlain.

No doubt recently Pakistan have the biggest issue in spin department and no one doing anything for covering this because we have batting academies and fast bowling academies but after death of Legendary Abdul Qadir no one dare to have any academy for this purpose even PCB is also having no interest in this department which is surely big concern.

Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed both settled in England with doing jobs for different Cricket Boards because they have good offers and salaries but here in Pakistan no one giving them anything for doing this job recently we have Saqlain Mushtaq as Head Coach, but this is also not permanently it's going to series basis which is not good they need to do something better planning for this as well.

[BobK71]

Although Pakistan won this 1st test but it was a great comparative match between the two. Both teams played well and both had chances as well to win. Actually audience enjoyed the game very well. Viewer usually expect to watch such type of competitive game. Anyway they will appear again in the next match where each team will try to adopt a new strategy.

[romero121]

Although Pakistan won this 1st test but it was a great comparative match between the two. Both teams played well and both had chances as well to win. Actually audience enjoyed the game very well. Viewer usually expect to watch such type of competitive game. Anyway they will appear again in the next match where each team will try to adopt a new strategy.

With the win Pakistan have reached the third position on the ICC test cricket rankings. This increase in the ranking have given way to be participant on World ICC test championship.

[Cryptock]

Although Pakistan won this 1st test but it was a great comparative match between the two. Both teams played well and both had chances as well to win. Actually audience enjoyed the game very well. Viewer usually expect to watch such type of competitive game. Anyway they will appear again in the next match where each team will try to adopt a new strategy.

With the win Pakistan have reached the third position on the ICC test cricket rankings. This increase in the ranking have given way to be participant on World ICC test championship.

Congratulation to Team Pakistan for winning the match against Sri Lanka.
Abdul Qadir did a very good part in winning this match - it was very thoughtful of captain to give a place to him and he did hit the bulls eye.