An abject surrender indeed

Pakistan team's abilities, technique and planning were exposed to the hilt by a professional and united Sri Lankan team in front of an almost full Gaddafi Stadium.
Fans had gathered in large numbers for the final in Lahore which was expected to be a thrilling encounter. However, what transpired was absolutely the opposite. Pakistan got their selection wrong as Shoaib Akhtar and Sohail Tanvir were dropped and inexperienced Sohail Khan and Saeed Ajmal were brought in for this high pressure game. Sohail and Saeed may have the talent but what they lacked was the ability to take on pressure which was exposed in the final game.
The axing of Shoaib defied logic as the mercurial pacer was returning after a long lay off and anyone returning after such a long time would take time to settle. And rather than backing him, he was dumped for this all important game.
Expectedly, Sohail Khan failed to make a mark. After bowling a good opening spell his inexperienced was exposed in the later overs as the Sri Lankans dispatched him all over the place with the bowler bowling too short and being punished.
Scantiness of Shoaib Malik's captaincy talent was also exposed as he failed to attack when it was required in the middle overs and continued bowling the spinners when the faster bowlers should have been brought in. Pakistan bowled spinners from the 19th over till the 42nd over allowing the Sri Lankans easy runs to consolidate in the middle overs after a scratchy start. Tillakaratne Dilshan played brilliantly with 137 off 139 balls as Sri Lankans posted a formidable total of 309-5 when they could have easily been restricted to something in the vicinity of 260. All the Pakistani bowlers were expensive and their overall game lacked planning and effort.
If skipper Malik believes Shoaib Akhtar didn't perform in the first two games one would ask what is Shahid Afridi the biggest prima donna in the side doing for the last so many games?
Afridi hasn't scored a fifty in ODI cricket since May 2007 while with the ball he gave away 149 runs in this series for only one wicket. His wickets tally last year was good only because of his performances against lesser teams. Whenever something has been required of him he has failed to deliver and yet he is ever present in the team. Yasir Arafat could have been a good option to replace him given his all round talent.