Pakistan:
Mohammad Hafeez being extra careful
Mohammad Hafeez has been extra careful since last 2 games. Which puts him under pressure initially. He did good to cope up with the strike rate at Dubai but did that in form of some risky shots. Though certainly failed to do so in Sharjah which resulted into sheer pressure and nerve, and thus ended up slogging a regulation leg break in to the hands of deep square leg.
Younis and Misbah failing to steer Pakistan through the middle overs
Without a doubt Misbah ul Haq and Younis Khan together have been Pakistan’s finest middle order batsmen since that dismal tour of England. They have steered Team Pakistan through many tough frames. But so far in this series both of them have failed to repeat those heroics. Younis Khan did fairly better job individually, but certainly not what you expect from Pakistan’s most experienced and finest batsman. Need to sort this out as early as possible
Curious Case of Aizaz Cheema
Aizaz Cheema is a strike bowler everyone must appreciate his game plans. He might go for some runs initially but caries the ability of plucking crucial wickets. He deserves an attacking field set. Minimum of two slips are a must have, when he is bowling. Also viewers must back him up rather than putting on lame tweets about his hairstyle.
Sri Lanka:
Openers not doing any good as a pair
Both Lankan openers played good knocks on at least 2 occasions in this series. Still they haven’t tried to out play the opposition with both ends intact. One is extra tentative (Tharanga) other is extra expressive (Dilshan). Both of them do not change their game plans as per the situation and keeps on playing in their own certain way. They must come out with a proper plan. Helping the game on its way is certainly not the right strategy.
Angelo Matthews
Angelo Matthews has been the biggest concern for Lanka. They must let Jeevan Mendis come ahead of him; Mendis can rotate the strike sensibly. Matthews shall follow him up with proper slogger’s role. One innings of confident 30-40 will bring him right back in the form.
Malinga; shaky with the new ball
To be honest apart from the 2nd ODI Malinga has been creepy with the new ball. He leaks too many runs in the start of the innings which grounds all the pressure created by bowlers like Perera from the other end. He shall try to maintain good line and length from the ball 1.
He’s been stupendous with the old ball though.
GeoSuper