PHOTO: AFP
It was a chastening defeat for Pakistan on Sunday when Australia finished the first Test with an innings and five-run win in the first Test of the two-match series.
Azhar Ali and co made a few strategic and a few selection mistakes going into the first match against the in-form Aussies, but the thing that hurt them the most was the erroneous selection of a final playing XI.
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A few tweaks are the need of the occasion which will give Pakistan some hope that they just might be able to compete with the Tim Paine-led Baggy Greens.
1. Bring back Abbas
This one is a no-brainer. Every cricket expert and most importantly the opposition captain Paine also was surprised and also thankful that the right-arm seamer was not a part of the final XI for Pakistan in the first Test.
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The line and length bowler boasts exceptional record in Tests for Pakistan and leaving him out for Imran Khan, just because the latter had a good tour match was as bad a call as it can be.
Abbas gives Pakistan the edge with his immaculate precision and probing line and length, one thing Pakistan missed during the first Test against the Aussies.
2. Play two openers
Since the arrival of Misbahul Haq, the Pakistan team has made it a habit of playing their captain up front. Babar, from one-down position in T20Is, jumped to the opening spot during the Australia T20Is. Owing to his form, he did make a case for the spot, but his move from his usual position was quite unusual.
Likewise, Azhar’s jump from a one-down or a two-down batsman to an opener was uncalled for.
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Pakistan have brought with him three specialist openers for the job in the form of Abid Ali, Imamul Haq and Shan Masood. While Masood proved that he can be handy in Australia but needs to learn to build up on good starts, Imam or Abid can help Pakistan consolidate their batting against the Aussie pace storm.
With two specialist openers in the line-up, Azhar can then hold the all-important one-down spot, with Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan and eventually Haris Sohail to follow.
3. Change of mindset
Apart from the selection headache, Pakistan need to look at their mindset too.
In the first Test, opting to bat first may have seemed like a perfect decision if it were the UAE, but against the Aussie pacers, on a fresh pitch and new ball, and also a weak batting line-up, the decision spelled disaster from ball one.
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Also, the fight shown by Babar and Rizwan in the second innings and before that by Shafiq, shows that Pakistani batsmen can survive on the Australia pitches, but they have to be patient and smart to bat in those conditions.
As we saw in both innings in the first Test, Pakistani batsmen, on occasions, gifted their wickets to the hosts by playing rash shots. The gameplan needs to be clear that survival is a priority because you can’t score if you are not out there.
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