Match Preview:  Sri Lanka v Pakistan, 1^st T20, Hambantota, Friday June 1^st 13:30 GMT (19:00 Local)

While at first glance it may seem like Sri Lanka may have the edge when it comes to achieving victory in the first T20 match against Pakistan coming up in a few short hours in Hambantota, there are several factors which work in Pakistan’s favour and may give them a slight edge over the fresh-from-the-IPL stocked Sri Lanka team.

                  Day-4 of the French open 2012 started off in a  similar fashion to day-3 as most of the top seeds claimed victories while some were surprisingly shown the exit door.

  In the men's doubles event , the team of Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Rojer Jean Julien cruised into the second round by claiming victory  against  the team of Jonathan Dasnieres de Viegy and Nicolas Renavad in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. Aisam, however, failed to deliver much in the mixed doubles event where he got ousted in the first round by the duo of Galina Voskoboeva and Danielle Bracciali in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 . Aisam-ul-Haq has to play the final of French Open 2012 in order to  qualify for the  London Olympics 2012.

The BCCI have given the green light to a possiblity that a limited over India Pakistan series could be played at the end of the year. 

Day 3 of the French Open 2012 and everything was going just

the way we all anticipated it to be until the late night drama

at Philippe Chatrier where  Serena Williams lost in the first

round of a major tournament for the first time in her career,

falling to Virginie Razzano of France 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 .The

fifth-seeded Williams was two points from victory nine times

in the second set, including leading 5-1 in the tiebreaker. But

Razzano won six straight points to force a third set, and then

took control of the match. "I made so many errors today, which

isn’t the game I was playing in the past," Williams said. "That’s

life." Razzano saved all five, and then converted her eighth

match point to eliminate one of the tournament favorites.

"I had to dig deep against a great champion and you could see

until the end that she gave away nothing," Razzano said. "I had

to go and get the victory. I had to be mentally strong, and I

gave my everything."

                                  Much like the Day-1 of the French Open, Day-2 saw top ranked players comfortably moving through to the next round with none of the players making the early exit.

                                         World No.1 player Novak Djokovic was up against the Italian Potito Starace in the first men's match of Day-2 on Court Philippe Chartier. The Serb had to face some early trouble but managed to get through the first set 7-6. From there onwards , it was an easy way for Novak to the second round and he completely dominated the Italian player in the second and third sets to clinch victory in straight sets 7-6, 6-3 , 6-1. “He’s a clay-court specialist and he has given a lot of trouble to the top players on this surface,”.“But maybe it was good for me to have the tough first set and try to find the good control and rhythm and movement on the court.”Djokovic said afterwards.

The key news for the Greens tour of Sri Lanka is Mohammad Hafeez’s promotion to captaincy in the shortest version of the game. Hafeez who was awarded 3 man-of-the-match awards in this format last year takes over from his domestic teammate Misbah ul Haq who is still hopeful of making it to the team as a player. Misbah led his side to 6 victories in this version of the game in 8 encounters.

A wise old man once said the darkest hour is just before the dawn, But even before the dawn there is still a ray of sunlight that can be viewed and that shine is a fine example of Pakistan's captain Misbah-Ul-Haq.

Day 1 of the French Open 2012 started off with an exciting buzz

with Del Potro and Tsonga going through to the second round

while Andy Roddick and Jurgen Melzer were unlucky and

suffered first round exits.

Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion, lost to 88th-ranked

Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, exiting in the opening

round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since

2007. The 26th-seeded Roddick is 7-10 this season, 0-4

on clay. "I move just horrendously out here. My first step

is just so bad on this stuff," Roddick said. "I feel like I'm

always shuffling or hopping or not stopping or something.

So my footwork on this stuff now is just really bad."

None of the top three men played on Day 1. Top-ranked

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will be on court Monday,

while Rafael Nadal is slated to begin his attempt for a

record-breaking seventh French Open title on Tuesday.

Pakistan will kick off their month long tour of Sri Lanka with two T20 encounters. Both the matches are of importance to both the teams, firstly because the both sides will be looking to gain early momentum before the ODI and Test matches leg of the series take place. Secondly, and more crucial is the fact that the T20 World Cup is just a few months away; thus both teams will be looking to make a statement before the tournament commences. Along with testing their T20 squads and giving them early preparation against top-quality sides, in the same conditions as the major event.

Mohammad Hafeez has been appointed the new skipper of Pakistan's T20 team, replacing Misbah-ul-Haq, and he will be looking to prove himself worthy of this responsibility. Always ready to share his ideas with captains on the field, discussing the match situations with them, it’s about time Hafeez does things on his own. He will require the support of senior players such as Shahid Afridi, who was also in contention to acquire leadership. This is the perfect opportunity for Mohammad Hafeez to show-case his captaincy skills and confirm himself as the team leader for the upcoming World Cup.