5 positives for Sri Lanka after the Pakistan series

The Sri Lankan cricket team is going through a transition and over the past few year, they have had it quite tough. However, they hit the nadir, when India visited their shores and did not drop a game to emerged 9-0 winner across the three formats. Sri Lanka simply did not have an answer.

In the Test series, they were trounced 3-0 and when they went to Pakistan's fortress in the middle-east right after that series, everyone felt that they would do well to avoid a thrashing. However, Sri Lanka played out of their skins and outplayed Pakistan comprehensively to emerge 2-0 victors in the two-match Test series. It was a landmark victory for the side and needless to say, there were plenty of positives. Here is a look at 5 of them.

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#5 Restoration of pride and confidence

Pakistan have never lost a Test series ever since they moved their 'home' to the middle-east and over the years, teams like Australia, England and New Zealand among others have found the going quite tough in the desert. Naturally, Sri Lanka were not even in the frame to put up much of a fight but the eventual result proved that the national team is a far more improved unit than the one that got battered by India at home.

Yet, the eventual 2-0 victory must have gone a long way in restoring pride and confidence of all the team members including the captain Dinesh Chandimal. While the India series looked like the lowest point, the fact that Sri Lanka bounced back straightaway would go a long way in making the team believe in its abilities once again.

#4 Karunaratne is a long-term solution

Dimuth Karunaratne

Dimuth Karunaratne has been one of Sri Lanka's better batsmen over the last couple of years and has performed reasonably well in tough away tours. However, the series against Pakistan will be a landmark series in his career, since he scored crucial runs for his team and helped them win their first Test series away from home against a major Test playing nation since 2014.

Karunaratne scored runs in both Tests to take Sri Lanka to a dominant position in the respective games. The 93 in the first Test was crucial at the top of the order while the 196 in the second Test at Dubai laid the foundations for the big score that Sri Lanka put up in the first innings. Moreover, he topped the batting charts in the series with a total of 306 runs at an average of 76.50.

Karunaratne's performance is without a doubt one of the biggest positives for Sri Lanka from this series and it appears he is going to be their Test match opener for many years to come.

#3 Herath's bounced back

Rangana Herath

Sri Lanka's disastrous home series against India had a more worrying underlying development for the team and that was the poor show from their greatest matchwinner since Murali, left-arm spinner Rangana Herath. He took only five wickets in two Tests and went for plenty of runs, which must have caused a degree of panic among the fans and the team.

However, Herath quashed all such speculation in the series against Pakistan by emerging as the highest wicket-taker in the series with 16 wickets and recorded an outstanding average of 17.31 in those two Tests. The foundations of the series victory were engineered by Herath as he picked up 11 wickets in that game, including a quite superb 6/43 in the second innings to dismiss Pakistan, when they were chasing only 136. Herath might be getting on in years, but he is still a matchwinner and that is something that must be one of the biggest positives for Sri Lanka from the series.

#2 Dickwella's impact in the middle order

Niroshan Dickwella

Niroshan Dickwella has always seemed like an interesting prospect due to his attacking batsmanship, regardless of circumstances, and his show in the recent series against Pakistan shows his match-turning abilities as a batsman. A batsman who can come in at number 6 or bat with the lower order and score runs quickly can be a huge asset for any Test match side, which is why Dickwella's show in the series is an important development for the Sri Lankan Test side.

Think of the sort of impact a player like Stokes can have and Dickwella has shown in this series that he can be that player in the long term. He was the third highest run scorer in the series with a tally of 196 but more importantly, he got them at a strike rate of 76.50 and that is something that makes him a unique talent.

Moreover, he did it against an excellent bowling attack away from home and hence Dickwella's performance with the bat must gladden the Sri Lankan team management.

#1 Dilruwan comes out good

Dilruwan Perera

For the better part of the last decade Sri Lanka have depended on the guiles of Rangana Herath to win Test matches and considering the fact that he is now 39 years old, they needed someone who could step in when he eventually retired. Right arm off-spinner Dilruwan Perera had a torrid time in the Test matches against India but in the series against Pakistan, he came into his own and bowled them to victory in the 2nd Test.

In the tense last innings of the game, he picked up 5 wickets to seal the series for Sri Lanka and bowled superbly as Pakistan's batsmen fell to his guiles. As far as positives in the series are concerned, Perera's show and a promise of a bowler who can spin Sri Lanka to victory in a post-Herat world are perhaps the biggest.