All to play for: Series on the line in Sharjah

Pakistan can seal series, second spot in rankings with third Test win

KARACHI:

Hosts Pakistan will go into the third Test against England with a lot to ponder over due to injury to paceman Imran Khan, and the return of vice-captain Azhar Ali in Sharjah.

The think tank is flirting with the idea of going with just Wahab Riaz and three spinners — Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar and Bilal Asif — in their bowling unit, while the simpler option would be to bring in Rahat Ali for Imran.

Azhar’s return also poses a conundrum as to who will give way for the 30-year-old. Shoaib Malik currently occupies Azhar’s regular position at number three but the all-rounder made an impressive double century in the opening Test. Another option may be to drop one of the two openers, with Shan Masood especially under the cosh.

3rd Test Preview: Pakistan seek series win as Misbah signals retirement

The hosts narrowly avoided defeat in the first Test before coming dangerously close to seeing England snatch a draw in the second, and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal feels Pakistan should have been bolder and prepared more spin-friendly tracks.

“The team management and the Pakistan Cricket Board should have asked the curators to prepare turning pitches in this series because England would have struggled to cope with us,” Ajmal, who was the leading wicket-taker and the man of the series when Pakistan whitewashed England in 2012, told The Express Tribune. “I don’t know what sort of fear we have that we aren’t playing to our strengths. When we’ll go to play in England, they would not give us batting pitches but rather green tops where the ball will seam viciously.”

With Yasir out of the first Test, Pakistan struggled to bowl out England and spinner Zulfiqar Babar looked out of sorts with all the responsibility on his shoulders.

Veteran spinner Babar confident Pakistan can upstage England

However, things got better in the second Test with Yasir returning to the playing eleven and the spin duo helped Pakistan to a much-needed victory in Dubai.

However, Ajmal has backed Babar to deliver. “Babar is a fantastic bowler and he’ll win matches for Pakistan,” said the 38-year-old. “He has the skills and the experience but spinners work well in partnership like me and Abdur Rehman did in 2012.”

Yasir, meanwhile, is now second in the bowlers’ ranking in Tests by taking 69 wickets in 11 Tests. He had a session with his childhood hero Shane Warne in Dubai where the Australian shared tips with him.

But Ajmal has warned Yasir not to get too carried away at this early juncture of his career. “No disrespect to Warne. He is a legend but we must not forget we’re talking about a bowler who has become the second best in just 11 Tests, so that shows Yasir is good enough for world cricket,” said Ajmal. “I would urge Yasir to focus on his basics and not think too much about what Warne said.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.