Heroes and Zeroes from Pakistan-Sri Lanka ODI series
Sarfaraz and Shadab see their stocks fall, Abid and Iftikhar shine
October 03, 2019
The ODI series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka concluded on Wednesday, with Pakistan triumphing 2-0. Here are our heroes and zeroes from the series.
Heroes
PCB
No cricket tour ever has had to face odds as tall as this one. But despite everything, the PCB made it happen. The very team that went through the horror of 2009 came and played a full ODI series. PCB deserves kudos for this much at least.
Sri Lanka
Forget who came and who did not. There were men from Sri Lanka who eventually did come despite their concerns. Pakistan is indebted to these men.
Abid Ali
He played just once, but once was still enough for Abid Ali to show that there is an alternative available to the Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq’s pairing.
Dasun Shanaka
With scores of 68 and a breezy 43, Dasun Shanaka was the only Sri Lankan batsmen in the series to deliver in both the matches.
Iftikhar Ahmed
An unbeaten 32 and tidy bowling in the first outing was followed by another unbeaten 28 and generally useful display. Iftikhar Ahmed gave a decent demo that he can be the utility man Pakistan have lost in Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik.
Usman Shinwari
He couldn’t follow the five-fer of the second ODI with another wicket-laden performance but he still did his job well. With Wahab Riaz slowing down and clearly showing signs of Father Time, it’s good to have Shinwari around.
Haris Sohail
He is unathletic, clunky and a complete liability in the field but he is Pakistan’s most dependable middle-order batsman too —a fact signified by scores of 40 and 56.
Zeroes
Sarfaraz Ahmed
The promotion up the order was supposed to help Sarfaraz display his batting prowess. Scores of a mere 8 and 23 suggest there was a reason he used to bat down the order.
Shadab Khan
An expensive 76-2 in the second ODI was followed by a 50-1 in the second when he struggled to get his line right. This wasn’t a series he’d want to remember.
Wahab Riaz
Two wickets in two matches, in the latter of which he conceded 81 runs. Karachi wasn’t kind to Wahab Riaz.
