Babar Azam: “He is one of Sri Lanka’s best bowlers”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Babar Azam, the Pakistan captain, has described left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya as “one of Sri Lanka’s best bowlers” considering how much he struggled against him.
During Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka in July 2023, Jayasuriya dismissed Azam in all three innings he batted.
Acknowledging that the 31-year-old is one tough customer, Azam praised him for his outstanding bowling.
“He is one of Sri Lanka’s best bowlers,” the 28-year-old was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam scored 76 runs in the Test series against Sri Lanka at an average of 25.33.
He subsequently made 113 runs in three ODIs against Afghanistan, which included two fifties, at an average of 37.66.
Recently, he was in action in the Asia Cup and accumulated 207 runs in five matches, which included a top score of 151, at an average of 51.75.
Pakistan started the tournament in dominant fashion as they registered a comprehensive 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India after their match was washed out.
Having made it through to the Super Four stage, the men in green maintained their momentum with a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh.
However, their campaign got derailed when they lost to India by 228 runs.
Pakistan still had a chance to make it to the Asia Cup final, but failed to get the job done as Sri Lanka beat them by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir