All rounder Shahid Afridi has been appointed as captain of Pakistan twenty20 team for the upcoming twenty20 match against Sri Lanka. Pakistan is now touring Sri Lanka in a full-fledged series. Pakistan’s regular captain Younis Khan retired from twenty20 format last month after leading Pakistan to clinch the Twenty20 world cup in England. PCB chairman Ijaz Butt requested Younis to change his decision, but the batsman decided not to change it.
So, PCB has named Afridi as Pakistan captain for the match against Sri Lanka. No doubt, it was a bit surprise for Afridi because he was preferred for the role when vice captain Misbah-ul-Haq was supposed to be given the chance. Afridi, one of the veteran members of Pakistan side, has said that he would love to lead Pakistan if Younis does not want to continue playing in the shortest format of the game. Hard-hitter batsman and an effective leg spinner, Afridi has represented Pakistan in 26 Tests, 273 ODI and 23 Twenty20 matches.
The ODI series between Sri Lanka and Pakistankicks off on 30 July. Pakistan lost the test series 2-0. So, they are now eagerly waiting to make a strong come back in the ODI series, while Sri Lanka is keen to continue their winning run against Pakistan.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka are now ready to face each other in a three-match test series starting from Saturday. Following their Twenty20 world cup triumph, Pakistan is now gearing up to continue the superb form in the test series against Sri Lanka too. However, some other things are now at stake ahead of the test series. First of all, Pakistan is now in the 6th position and Sri Lanka is in the 4th in the ICC Test Ranking. A series win for Pakistan could take them to the fourth Position ahead of Sri Lanka, while a series win for Sri Lanka would ensure their improvement on rating points.
Let us now focus on individual ranking. Pakistan captain Younis Khan, who is currently at the top spot of the ICC ranking for test batsmen, could become the only 25th test batsman in the history to achieve a ranking point of 900 because he currently holds 880 rating points. The only Pakistani batsmen who could achieve this distinction is Mohammed Yousuf.
Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara could replace Younis at the top of the ranking if he can play some big innings and his Pakistan counterpart fails to deliver his best in the series. Sri Lanka’s off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is the current no. 1 in ICC test bowling ranking with 11 points advantage over second ranked Dale Steyn. So, he also needs to perform well in order hold on to his current position in the ranking. Among the Pakistani bowlers Umar Gul is highest ranked at 14. Given his current form, you can expect that the pacer could moved into the top 10 at the end of the series.
