AJMAL AND HAFEEZ WILL BE THE KEY FOR PAKISTAN :BASIT ALI

Former Pakistani Test cricketer and middle-order batsman, Basit Ali, has expressed his opinion that off-spinner, Saeed Ajmal and all-rounder, Mohammad Hafeez are going to be key players for Pakistan in the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
The series between the two countries is going to start from October 18, 2011, with the first Test at Abu Dhabi.
The Sri Lankan team is going through a rebuilding phase at the moment as they no longer have the services of legendary bowlers, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas or Lasith Malinga, who has confined himself to limited overs cricket.
All these bowlers have played a big role for Sri Lanka’s Test victories in the last decade and it is surely going to be a huge challenge for the inexperienced Sri Lankan bowling attack to take 20 wickets in a match against a quality opposition like Pakistan.
On the other side of the coin, the former middle-order batsman believes that Saeed Ajmal is at the peak of his career at the moment and he is going to be a huge force in the future assignments. He also praised the performances of Mohammad Hafeez in the recent past and hopes that he is going to carry on with the same momentum.
He said, “For Pakistan, the key is Saeed Ajmal in bowling and Hafeez is in good form with bat and ball. These two players can play an important role in upcoming series.”
While talking about the new ruling of the International Cricket Council (ICC) regarding two new balls at both ends in One Day International cricket, Basit said that this rule is going to favour the bowlers on green tracks and will be ideal for batsmen on flat pitches.
“It will be difficult to handle for batsman in seaming and bouncy condition but will help batsman in Asia. It would be very difficult for bowlers to bowl in Asia, which provides another advantage for batsman. The harder the ball the faster it will go and it will be easy pickings for batsman in batting friendly condition like we have in Asia,” Basit added.