Afridi's Return Sets up Appetising Opener

Dubai: Pakistan were boosted by the return of allrounders Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq who both had turbulent periods since the World Cup in first one-day international on Friday.

The 28-year-old fast bowler, who bowls with a round-arm action is fresh from his exploits in last month's Champions League where he finished as the player of the tournament in Mumbai's title triumph with ten wickets.

Pakistan captain Misbah conceded Malinga could be vital. "Malinga is a very good bowler, he makes a difference and everyone knows he is a good bowler," said Misbah on Thursday. "We have played very well against him but they have an edge with him in the side."

Pakistan won the preceding three-Test series 1-0 when Sri Lanka were without Malinga who retired from Test cricket earlier this year because of persistent injury problems.

Dilshan said Malinga, who has 149 wickets in 94 one-day internationals, is an asset for his team. "Lasith is one of the assets for Sri Lanka," said Dilshan. "He is one of the great bowlers in the world and he can guide other bowlers as well and his comeback in the series is a good sign for the team."

Malinga was also sidelined with injury when Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in the group match in Colombo in this year's World Cup.

After the West Indies series in May, Afridi fell out with then coach Waqar Younis before being sacked as one-day captain. In protest he retired from international cricket and only took back his decision last month.

Razzaq was sidelined after a poor World Cup, but was recalled after he led Pakistan to Super Sixes title in Hong Kong earlier this month.

And Misbah hoped both the allrounders give Pakistan more strength. Dilshan also hoped his team remain focused and win the series.

Sri Lanka need to win 4-1 or better to keep their second place in the ICC (International Cricket Council) one-day rankings intact. They drop one place even if they win 3-2.

Pakistan have gone for Sarfraz Ahmed as the wicketkeeper in place of Adnan Akmal. Sarfraz's last game for Pakistan was in February 2010 but his domestic batting performances have led to his inclusion. The keeping is another issue, but Pakistan are certainly missing Kamran Akmal the batsman. What will Sarfraz make of this opportunity? Also returning is allrounder Abdul Razzaq whose last match was the World Cup 2011 semi-final against India.

Sri Lanka will be happy to go back to their prolific ODI opening combination of Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan after the indifferent starts during the Tests. Promising wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal played the first three ODIs against Australia as a specialist batsman before being dropped. He is back in the squad now but will Sangakkara continue to don the keeping gloves?

Teams from

Pakistan Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Shafiq, Imran Farhat, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Younis Khan.

Sri Lanka TM Dilshan (capt), AD Mathews (vc), KC Sangakkara (wk), LD Chandimal (wk), CRD Fernando, DPMD Jayawardene, S Randiv, FDM Karunaratne, CKB Kulasekara, RAS Lakmal, SL Malinga, BMAJ Mendis, NLTC Perera, S Prasanna, WU Tharanga.

Stats & trivia

• Sri Lanka have beaten Pakistan in their previous two bilateral ODI series, both in 2009
• Misbah-ul-Haq averaged 51.69 in 21 games under Shahid Afridi. He averages 94.50 in his short stint of six matches so far

Match facts
Friday November 11, (day/night)
Start time 1500 local (1100 GMT)