Clean sweep

An away victory is much more celebratory than one at home. And mind you this one — by Pakistan against Sri Lanka — is a clean sweep on the latter’s own soil. Thus full marks to the Babar Azam men for outbatting, outbowling and outfielding the Sri Lankans in the two-Test rubber that shattered records after records.

When Pakistan won the first Test — by four wickets — it marked their first win after a 365-day winless streak. Pakistan’s victory in the second Test by 222 runs is their biggest-ever away from home. The 2-0 series result marks Pakistan’s first clean sweep against Sri Lanka in a Test series since 1994. Noman Ali’s 7 for 70 in the second innings of the second Test are the best figures for a Pakistan spinner against Sri Lanka. By scoring a fifty in the second Test, Saud Shakeel became the first player in the history of Test cricket to reach fifty runs in each of his first seven matches. This way, Saud surpassed the likes of India’s Sunil Gavaskar, Pakistan’s Saeed Ahmed, West Indies’ Basil Butcher and New Zealand’s Bert Sutcliffe — all legends in their own right who scored 50 or more in each of their first six Tests. There were not just hundreds but double hundreds — by Saud Shakeel and Abdullah Shafiq — a notable sign that Pakistan now have batsmen in their lineup, apart from skipper Babar Azam, who are blessed with technique and temperament to stay at the wicket.

And to top it all, the victory takes Pakistan to the top of the World Test Championship table, with 24 points out of a possible 24 and 100 per cent PCT (points for a team per points contested) score. Coming up next for Pakistan is a three-Test series against Australia in Australia in December-January, followed by two home Tests against the West Indies in February-March 2024 and as many home Tests against Bangladesh in August-September 2024. The whitewash of Sri Lanka has put Pakistan in a formidable position for a victory in the 2025 World Test Championship.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2023.

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