• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Sl Vs Pak Babar Azam Feels Pakistan Are Well Prepared For Test Series Against Sri Lanka

SL vs PAK | Babar Azam feels Pakistan are well prepared for Test series against Sri Lanka

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on Friday (July 15) said his side is well prepared to take on Sri Lanka despite the challenging conditions away from home.


The Babar Azam-led Pakistan Test team will take on Sri Lanka for the two-match Test series starting from Saturday, July 16.


Pakistan ready for the Lankan challenge


Addressing the media on the eve of the first Test, Babar said that his side is well prepared to tackle the Sri Lankan team in their home conditions and he's looking forward to the series.

"My team and I are very much looking forward to the series and trying our level best to perform well. Galle ground is very beautiful. We are very much well prepared for the series. Sri Lanka are a very tough side in their home conditions, and you'll see a good contest here," said Babar Azam ahead of the first Test.

No effects of Political tensions on cricket 

When asked about the political unrest in the country, Babar said his side was very well looked after by the Sri Lankan cricket board and security officials.

"To be honest that wasn't in our mind but when we came here the situation was different. As a team, the Sri Lankan board and the security looked after us very well which was extremely helpful.”

'Spin will dominate the Galle Test'

"We played a warm-up game in Colombo and we found out that spinners dominate in these conditions. Similarly, we heard that Galle pitch also supports spinners. Probably on the second and third day, or on fourth day, spinners become too useful," he maintained.

Read: ENG vs IND | Rohit Sharma rues dropped catches after the defeat in the 2nd ODI

Discover more
Top Stories
news

Hired Matthew Mott after suspecting Eoin Morgan would retire, says ECB Director Rob Key

Since former England player Robert Key took charge of affairs for England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), ‘The Three Lions’ have been on a high. Key, who is the ECB's Managing Director for Men's Cricket, headed the appointment of Brendon McCullum and Matthew Mott as England's head coaches for the red-and-white ball formats, respectively. These decisions have yielded remarkable results thus far. The former England batter has now revealed why Mott was chosen for the post, which at the time looked like a hasty decision. Why Mott was the perfect choice for England…. Speaking to The Guardian, Key said that with Eoin Morgan's impending retirement looming over English cricket, Mott seemed like the perfect guy to usher the team into a new era. "One of the reasons I wanted someone with experience was in case Eoin Morgan gave it up. When I came in, he (Morgan) pretty much ran the entire setup. He never guaranteed, 'I will definitely be there for the World Cup', and that became part of the decision-making process. This team really ran itself with Eoin Morgan. What's the best way to do it when he's not there? That's why Matthew Mott. I wasn't expecting this, but it was part of the thinking," Key added. Morgan announced his retirement from international cricket last month after serving as captain of the white-ball side since 2015. Key came into cricket administration after England suffered series losses to Australia and West Indies, under Chris Silverwood's coaching and Joe Root's captaincy. Read: 'Bazball' the phrase devalues what Stokes and McCullum have done: Key Can they play Test? Can they play white-ball?: Key The 43-year-old cricketer-turned-administrator also spoke about the problems within England's setup, pertaining to injuries to key bowlers (Jofra Archer and Mark Wood). He said, "The ones (where) it becomes an issue are Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, your fast bowlers. The problem will come if they are all fit, then you've got a decision to make - can they play every Test match? Can they play every white-ball game? But at the moment none of them are fit." Hopeful he will be involved in everything: Key Key remains hopeful of Archer playing in all formats for England despite his run-ins with injuries that have kept him out of action for over a year. "I'm hopeful he will be involved in everything. Unless someone who knows a lot more about backs and injuries (tells me otherwise), I will not change my view on that," concluded the former Sky Sports commentator. Read: ECB and Sky Sports extend broadcast partnership till 2028

news

ENG vs IND | Rohit Sharma rues dropped catches after the defeat in the 2nd ODI

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma attributed the massive 100-run loss in the second ODI of the three-match series against England at Lord's to dropped catches in the game. England thrashed India by 100 runs in the second ODI to level the series 1-1 with one game to go on Sunday (July 17) at Old Trafford, Manchester. Batting first, the hosts were dismissed for 246 in 49 overs. Moeen Ali top scored for his team with 47. In response, India was blown away for just 146, courtesy of a sensational spell of bowling by left-arm pacer Reece Topley. Also Read: Rohit Sharma backs under-fire Virat Kohli yet again Rohit blames poor batting for the collapse Speaking about the performance in the post-match presentation, Sharma heaped praise on the bowlers and claimed that the target was reasonable. However, the batting unit let the team down eventually. "We bowled pretty well. They had the partnership in the middle with Moeen (Ali) and (David) Willey. Not that the target wasn't chasable, we just didn't get there," Rohit said during the post-match presentation ceremony. The Indian team was poor in the field as well. In the eighth over of the first innings, Jasprit Bumrah was guilty of dropping Jason Roy, who went on to put together a handy 41-run opening stand with Jonny Bairstow. After that, Prasidh Krishna dropped David Willey off Hardik Pandya's bowling while fielding at fine-leg. Need to take catches to win games - Rohit Sharma The Indian opener stressed on the importance of fielding well in order to win games. He summarized the game by saying that his team bowled well but didn't bat well which is why India couldn't chase a par total. "(On the dropped catch of Willey) If you want to win games, you have to take those catches... All in all, we bowled well. We just didn't bat well. I thought the pitch would get better, but there was something for the bowlers throughout," Rohit concluded. Read: 'Bazball' the phrase devalues what Stokes and McCullum have done: Rob Key