LONDON: Pakistan head into their series finale against England at The Oval wondering if an extra bowler can help them square the four-match series at 2-2.
\nAfter losing the first Test at Lord\u2019s by 75 runs, England have bounced back with victories by 330 runs and 141 runs at Old Trafford and Edgbaston respectively.
\nA recurring scene throughout the series has been the sight of Pakistan\u2019s four-man attack tiring badly during prolonged spells in the field.
\nThe tourists lack an all-rounder of the calibre of England rising star Chris Woakes, with out-of-form opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez, who made two and nought at Edgbaston, still barred from bowling his off-spinners because of an illegal action.
\nPakistan need to take 20 wickets at The Oval, where the fourth Test starts on Thursday, if they are to draw level.
\nThey didn\u2019t manage it at Edgbaston last week where England declared their second innings on 445 for six.
\nAt Edgbaston, Pakistan replaced struggling opener Shan Masood with Sami Aslam and saw the 20-year-old left-hander make impressive scores of 82 and 70.
\nNow they could give a Test debut in south London to Iftikhar Ahmed, a top-order batsman who also bowls off-spin.
\n“He bowls off-spin and decently, England have a lot of left handers so he does give us an option as a fifth bowler if he comes in,” Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur told reporters at The Oval on Wednesday.
\n“But we have to be dead certain he can come into our top six and get runs, because we\u2019ll be asking for runs first and bowling second.”
\nArthur said playing five bowlers was also under consideration.
\n“It\u2019s certainly one of the options, but whoever comes in somebody has got to bat in the middle order, which makes it a particularly long tail,” the South African explained.
\n“It\u2019s one that we\u2019ve thought about and one I lay in bed thinking about it last night.
\n“That\u2019s a very positive option because we\u2019ve got to get 20 wickets in this Test match. We\u2019ve got to work through that one.”
\nYasir Shah took stunning match figures of 10 for 141 at Lord\u2019s, including six first-innings wickets.
\nIt was asking a lot for Shah to maintain that form on English pitches.
\nThat, allied to better England batting, has seen Shah come back down to earth with a combined returned of four for 502 in the last two Tests.
\n“I\u2019m hoping we can get runs on board here, it turns a bit and there\u2019s a bit of bounce – and that\u2019s a leg-spinner\u2019s best friend,” said Arthur.
\nPakistan could also do with some runs from Younis Khan, the sole survivor from their controversial 2006 Test against England at The Oval where the tourists forfeited the match by refusing to play after being penalised five runs for ball-tampering by the umpires.
\nYounis has had a lean series with just 122 runs in six innings.
\n“He\u2019s so professional on and off the field,” Arthur said.
\n“Put it this way, he\u2019s giving himself the best chance to perform.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON: Pakistan head into their series finale against England at The Oval wondering if an extra bowler can help them square the four-match series at 2-2. After losing the first Test at Lord\u2019s by 75 runs, England have bounced back with victories by 330 runs and 141 runs at Old Trafford and Edgbaston respectively. A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n