Left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi has very interestingly said that the conditions he and South Africa encountered in Dambulla for the first ODI of the ongoing 5-match One-day Internationals series, were similar to how they are back home. Shamsi, who picked up his best figures on Sunday, July 30, with a spell of 4/33  which helped his country start off the series with a win, said that it wasn't tough to adjust to the conditions at the scenic ground in the island nation as the wicket was similar to some of the tracks in the rainbow country.

"To be honest, I felt like it was a bit more of a South Africa type of wicket," said Shamsi after the match. "There wasn't much spin, especially because we bowled first. We bowl a lot on pitches like this back home so it was okay to adjust,"

He further added, "Every time I play, I try to do my best for the team. I have been given freedom by the captain and the coach to try and express myself, I am glad I was able to produce today."

"Cricket is a funny game, you are not always going to have a good day, sometimes things might go wrong. I have been given the freedom to express myself and to try and take wickets, on another day my job might be to contain and hold the game. It depends on what is required of me,"

Very modestly, Shamsi gave credit to the early burst and wickets that fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi provided, as the duo got Sri Lanka hurting at 36/5 - a position from which they never recovered.

He said, "Even though I managed to get out the batsmen who made runs, our fast bowlers made our job a lot easier. Any team that is five down early with 30-odd runs on the board makes the job easier. Credit to Sri Lanka for getting close to 200 runs after a start like that. I am happy to do my job when I am given the ball, which is to take wickets,"

(Inputs from Cricbuzz)