Mani2020
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first things first. congrats on a historic win at the premadasa. going in SL had won 7 of the last 10 ODI's against us and had become sort of a 'bogeyman' to us.
and before we get too excited and start having delusions of grandeur, a lot of hard work is still required.
our fast bowling is not set - razzaq is not the answer. shoaib is still not fully fit (even though he bowled brilliantly after a long time), he is 'limping' and his right knee is not 100%. U/Gul had a bad game, however he will get better hopefully - now is the time to try out the youngster Junaid and see if he has the 'talent' to spark. try him against canada and zinbabwe to give him confidence. no use sitting on the bench!
even though our 'ground fielding' was good (guys were diving all over the place), our catching and w/keeping was wanting. if we are to progress in the WC, we cannot give teams such reprives (4 in this match). good teams will slaughter you in the knock-out stages.
our openers need to play better esp ahmad shehzad - he is taking too many risks. he is a great talent and needs to be in a 'controlled' mode.
afridi, misbah, younis, kamran (batting & 2 stumpings), shoaib were excellent in the game. the young guns need to 'stand up' and be counted.
Good Luck!
And thats why i said that i m not happy even after we won
But you have to give credit to Shoaib Akhtar and feel for the man that instead of such humidity he bowled his full quota including first 5 overs on the trot and to come up with that delivery which got Mahela was something admiring ,it was really a gem of a delivery to a man who forms the backbone of Sri-Lankan side and also helped Sri-Lanka to win the series last time played by both countries
Umar Gul is/was never a one day bowler for me ,he is over-rated in 50 over cricket due to his t20 performance,no doubt his t-20 performance is excellent but in 50 overs cricket he has been pathetic in last many ODI's if you see the history with the exception of a couple of matches .
I m not at all happy with Kamran Akmal for last many years he is dropping more then what he is catching ,you got to find some other wicket keeper batsman not like his brother Adnan whose batting is not a bench mark or any thing shinning