KARACHI: Former chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed Sallu on Sunday praised Pakistan for their comprehensive 83-run win over Sri Lanka in the first of five One-day Internationals in Dubai on Friday and said a better team combination earned the win for Sarfraz Ahmed’s men.

Speaking to media here on Sunday, Sallu said: “The playing XI selected for the opening ODI was perfectly balanced and gave skipper Sarfraz many bowling options that contributed to the fine win which helped Pakistan take an early lead.

“Unlike the Test matches, where the bowling options were quite limited and Sarfraz was compelled to make use of part-time bowlers like Asad Shafiq and Haris Sohail. But on Friday Pakistan had no such problems and really benefitted from the availability of the experienced Mohammad Hafeeez, Shoaib Malik as well as young Ruman Raees, Shadab Khan and Junaid Khan who were clearly a handful for the opposition.”

Sallu further said that Pakistan batting line-up also got a boost with the return of Malik and Hafeez in the middle-order which helped the team raise a good score of 292. “Malik was brilliant with the bat and proved to be an able partner to Babar Azam who once again excelled in the limited overs format with a fantastic hundred,” said Sallu.

“Hafeez, too, chipped in with a brisk knock and bowled well to show that there is still lot of cricket left in him.”

Sallu said the Sri Lankans, although on a high after the Test series win, were taken aback by the aggressive batting of opener Fakhar Zaman who the inititive away from the Islanders. “He [Fakhar] was unlucky to get a peach of a delivery that accounted for his dismissal, otherwise he looked set for a big score.”

The former Test player pointed out that Pakistan team’s body language was also looking very positive in the match which augurs well for the next four games in the series. “There were shades of Champions Trophy spirit in the side and I feel that in this mood, Pakistan should outclass Sri Lanka in this series,” said Sallu.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2017