Pakistan’s middle-order batter Saud Shakeel on Wednesday opened up about the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
Saud, 27, talked about the playing conditions in Sri Lanka ahead of the series this month.
“Sri Lanka have quality spinners and they know about their playing conditions. We will have to play our best cricket [to beat them],” Shakeel said in a press conference.
The left-handed batter also talked about his previous visit to Sri Lanka but said that those matches were on different grounds.
“I have played in Sri Lanka before as well but they were on different grounds. The conditions of the ground will be different this time but the weather will help us in adjusting to them,” he added.
The 27-year-old mentioned his experience in County Cricket and also stated that every player tries his best according to their abilities.
“Playing for Yorkshire was very beneficial. As a player, every player is trying to enhance their skills. We have quality spinners as well.
“I always try to perform better in Tests so I can make my way into ODIs as well but as of now, I’m only thinking about Test cricket.
“BazBall is England’s brand, our management have told us to play modern cricket, which is our way,” he concluded.
The last time Pakistan and Sri Lanka played a Test series was in 2022 in Sri Lanka which was tied 1-1.
Itinerary of Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka:
9 July – Pakistan land in Colombo
11 and 12 July – Warm-up game
16-20 July – First Test at Galle International Cricket Stadium
24-28 July – Second Test at Singhalese Sports Club, Colombo
Pakistan squad
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi and Shan Masood
Player support personnel
Rehan-ul-Haq (team manager), Grant Bradburn (head coach), Andrew Puttick (batting coach), Morne Morkel (bowling coach), Aftab Khan (fielding coach), Abdul Rehman (assistant coach), Drikus Saaiman (strength and conditioning coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi (media and digital content manager), Lt Col Usman Anwari (Retd) (security manager), Talha Ejaz (analyst) and Malang Ali (masseur).
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.