Same Ground, Same Light, One Test Left: Pakistan and Sri Lanka Go Again in Rawalpindi

There are many reasons a Test match changes venue. The air is not usually one of them. On November 10, with the first Test still going on, the PCB moved the second Test from the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore to Rawalpindi because of "prevailing weather conditions". Lahore that week had the worst air quality of any city in the world, according to IQAir, and ESPNcricinfo reported that the broadcasters had concerns about filming a Test in that smog. The dates did not change: November 17 to 21.

So both teams stay where they are. That has one clear advantage: nobody has to guess what the ground will do. It also brings back the problem that shaped the first Test. Almost 141 overs were lost, players came off early for bad light every evening, rain wiped out much of the fourth afternoon, and only three innings were completed. Pakistan scheduled that Test to start at 9:30, half an hour earlier than usual, and it still was not enough. The second Test starts at 9:30 again, with lunch from 11:30 to 12:10, tea from 2:10 to 2:30, and close at 4:30.

Babar Azam and Mike Hesson, the Pakistan coach, said after the draw that a pink ball for day Tests at home "seriously needs to be considered" for future series. Not this one, though. ESPNcricinfo reported that the boards did not consider it for the second Test, and Babar said a couple of days were not enough to prepare for a pink ball. So it is red ball, early start, and a race against the dark.

Pakistan batted first after Sri Lanka chose to field, and made 434 for 9 declared. Saud Shakeel made 93, and there were half-centuries from Tayyab Arif, Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Taha and Babar. Sri Lanka answered with 446, built on a partnership between Dhananjaya de Silva (167) and Kusal Mendis (119 in his first Test as captain) that was 249 unbroken at the end of the third day. Then Pakistan, only 12 behind, lost four wickets on the last morning and for a while looked in real trouble at 125 for 5, before Shakeel's 97 and Ghazi Ghori's 35 took the game away. Hands were shaken at 284 for 8, with Pakistan 272 ahead.

The surface was good for batting for three days and gave the seamers more from the fourth morning, when the game finally came alive. That may be the key thing to remember. If the second Test pitch behaves the same way, the first two days may be for batting and the last two for bowling, and the light will decide how much of those last two days there is.

Saqib Khan took 7 for 130 on debut and was Player of the Match. For a fast bowler who came into the squad less than 48 hours before the first Test, from the PCB Patron's XI, that is quite a start. The question now is the one every debutant faces: can he do it again, when Sri Lanka have seen him and have a plan for him?

Saud Shakeel made 93 and 97. ESPNcricinfo noted it was the third Test in a row in which he had fallen short of three figures, and nobody will feel that more than him. But the second innings was the one that mattered. He made 23 by lunch, left ball after ball outside off stump, and batted most of two sessions to save the match. In a batting order with three new faces, he is the shelter.

Mohammad Abbas took 2 for 68 in the first innings, and he did not get the help he would have wanted on the first three days. With the same ground and maybe a pitch that has had more use around it, he may get more this time. Babar's 50 and 34 were good, and his captaincy was calm. What Pakistan need from him now is a long innings.

A possible XI, and it is only that: Azan Awais, Tayyab Arif, Mohammad Taha, Babar Azam (capt), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Ghazi Ghori (wk), Arafat Minhas, Razaullah, Saqib Khan, Mohammad Abbas. Pakistan have little reason to change a side that took 10 wickets, but Aamer Jamal's seam or a second batter such as Sameer Minhas could come in if they read the pitch differently.

Sri Lanka will leave Rawalpindi's first Test thinking they were the better side for longer. De Silva and Mendis batted through more than two sessions on the third day. Kamindu Mendis made 58 and Lahiru Udara 42. And on the final morning their seamers, led by Milan Rathnayaka (3 for 47) with Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara (two wickets each), bowled patiently outside off stump and set clever traps, such as the short square leg that caught Babar.

The selection question is spin. Sri Lanka played the first Test without Prabath Jayasuriya, who is in the squad, and went with four seamers plus the part-time spin of Dhananjaya and Sonal Dinusha. It worked well enough for a draw. If the second Test pitch looks drier, or if Sri Lanka think they need ten wickets on the last two days, Jayasuriya is the obvious change. That would probably mean leaving out a seamer.

A possible XI: Lahiru Udara, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), Sonal Dinusha, Milan Rathnayaka, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka. Jayasuriya for Madushanka, who went wicketless in the second innings, is one possible change, and it may depend on what Sri Lanka see on the morning of the match.

	Pakistan	Sri Lanka
1st innings	434/9 dec (106.3 overs)	446 all out (117.2 overs)
2nd innings	284/8 (84.5 overs)	Did not bat
Top scorer	Saud Shakeel: 93 and 97	Dhananjaya de Silva: 167
Best bowling	Saqib Khan: 7-130 (debut)	Milan Rathnayaka: 3-47

Result: Match drawn. Almost 141 overs were lost to bad light and rain. Series level at 0-0 with one Test to play.