Shadab Khan in line for recall as visitors seek to build on successes in 2016 and 2018 tours
news agency
Manchester
Misbah ul Haq believes that the dry conditions on offer at Emirates Old Trafford could persuade Pakistan to go into this week’s first Test against England with a twin-spin attack, alongside a trio of fast bowlers who are all adept at bowling reverse swing.
Speaking in the build-up to Wednesday’s series opener, Pakistan’s coach rued the fact that the bio-secure arrangements for the series meant that none of the three Tests would be played at his side’s favourite venues of Lord’s and The Oval – where they have won each of their three Tests since 2016. However, he reckoned that the week’s hot and dry forecast would play into his team’s hands.
“If you want to win a game against a good team then there are challenges always in your way,” Misbah said. “It’s not like you go out and win it with ease. When you are playing in other’s conditions, you have to beat them in all departments to win a match.
“Obviously our favourite hunting grounds are in London – Lord’s and The Oval – but recently at Southampton and Old Trafford, the pitches are showing help for spinners. There is some dryness, like you get when it turns at The Oval, and later on there is the chance for some reverse swing.”
Pakistan struggled in their most recent visit to Old Trafford, on the 2016 tour, claiming just nine wickets in a 330-run loss with their legspinner Yasir Shah proving especially ineffective. Having claimed 10 wickets in the first-Test win at Lord’s, he returned match figures of 1 for 266 in 63 overs.
Misbah, however, was encouraged by the evidence of the recent West Indies Tests, in which Roston Chase and Dom Bess found assistance at various stages of both games, and in which Rakheem Cornwall played as a second spinner in the series decider, in spite of the damp conditions that dominated for the week.
“The scenario is different now,” Misbah said. “For spinners there was absolutely nothing in 2016, but now when we see matches they are totally different and it looks like it’s in our favour and we are going to play our chances.
“Our bowlers are in good form and there are encouraging signs but it depends how we play those conditions and how we play the game, and exploit them in our favour.”
Pakistan’s victories in the first two Tests in 2016 and 2018 were part of a wider pattern from England, who have now lost the first Test of a series in eight of their last ten outings. However, coming so soon after the completion of the West Indies series, Misbah acknowledged that their opponents would likely be very well prepared this time around.
“That was their first Test in a long, long time and obviously after that they played consistently,” he said of England’s four-wicket defeat at the Ageas Bowl last month. They’ve played three Test matches now.
“That [losing habit] might be due to a Test match after a long time, we’re aware of that and that this time it might not happen, so we should be ready for an England team that have already had three matches of experience and they won their last two Test matches.
“We have to really come in this Test series right from the word go at our best if we want to win a Test series or a Test match here. We are aware that England have a slight advantage, but if we are alert and go 100% in the first Test match, that is the only way we can beat England otherwise we will find ourselves in difficulty.”
