Misbah expects spin-friendly wicket against opponents in second Test. PHOTO: AFP
Pakistan are hoping that both the sun and their spinners shine in Dubai to give them an edge in the second Test against Sri Lanka starting Wednesday.
Persistent rain in the Emirates forced the teams to cancel their practice on Tuesday. But the forecast is clear for the next five days.
“Hopefully it will be better on Wednesday and we can have a proper five-day game,” said Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq.
“I haven’t seen the pitch because it is covered, but usually it’s a good Test wicket in Dubai.”
Misbah is counting on spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rehman to give Pakistan a series lead after the first three-match series which ended in a draw in Abu Dhabi last week.
Ajmal has taken 24 wickets at the Dubai stadium, including seven in the third Test of the series against England, which helped Pakistan inflict a 3-0 whitewash on the then-world number one side in 2012.
Misbah is expecting a spin-friendly pitch despite the rain interruption on the eve of the Test.
“If you look at the history of this ground, this pitch slows down and gives something to the spinners,” he said. “Both of our spinners had really good success here.”
Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets in Dubai on their way to a 1-0 series win in 2011.
The spin duo starred in the win with Ajmal taking eight and Rehman snaring four wickets. The left-arm spinner has not featured regularly in the playing eleven after his heroics against England.
If the pitch show signs of wear and tear, the experienced tweaker with 90 Test wickets under his belt, is likely to be fielded.
Pakistan will also look to improve their batting after they slumped from 329 for four to 383 all out in their first-innings in Abu Dhabi — the failure to capitalise on the hundreds by Misbah and Younus Khan irked the captain.
“We need to work on our batting more as we should have got 450-odd runs on the board to have a big lead to put pressure on the opposition,” said Misbah.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2014.
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