Sabbir Hossain :
Reigning champions Pakistan will meet mighty Sri Lanka today in the opening match of the Asia Cup at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah. The day/night affair starts at 2.00 pm BST (Bangladesh Standard Time).
Bangladesh Television and private satellite channel Channel 9 will telecast the match live. Before today’s match, Pakistan and Sri Lanka faced in 137 games. Of them, Pakistan won 80 matches while Sri Lanka registered 52 wins, one match ended in a tie and four matches were abandoned.
Captain of Pakistan team Misbah-ul-Haq said, “All teams have ability to against any side. It will be good competition. Last Asia Cup was witness of that.”
Captain of Sri Lanka team Angelo Mathews said, “We are here for a month. The condition and the grounds are familiar to us. We were in the matches for some time. Everything is going positive for us. We played against Pakistan recently. We want to perform well in the field.”
Squads:
Pakistan (probable): Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohaib Maqsood, Misbah-Ul-Haq (Captain.), Umar Akmal (Wicketkeeper), Shahid Afridi, Bilawal Bhatti/Anwar Ali, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan.
Sri Lanka (probable): Kusal Perera, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (Wicketkeeper), Dinesh Chandimal, Ashan Priyanjan, Angelo Mathews (Captain.), Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Suranga Lakmal.
