Pak’s Yasir targets 20 Australian scalps, win
Aussies look to move on from scandal
DUBAI, Oct 6, (Agencies): Matchwinning Pakistan spinner Yasir Shah has sent a warning to Australia’s batsmen that he is targeting 20 wickets and a win in the two-match Test series starting in Dubai on Sunday.
The 32-year-old has been Pakistan’s main spin weapon since making his Test debut against Australia at the same venue four years ago.
He and left-armer Zulfiqar Babar took 26 wickets between them to rout Australia 2-0.
Yasir again holds the key for Pakistan in the two-match series, with the second in Abu Dhabi from Oct 16.
“I have a target of 20 wickets,” Yasir told AFP. “I know how important it will be to take wickets so that remains my target and for the team to win the series which is very important.”
Yasir has grown in stature and wickets with each series. He took 24 wickets in three Tests in a series win over Sri Lanka a year later.
His 10 wickets at Lord’s and five at The Oval formed the basis of Pakistan’s 1-1 series draw in England two years ago before he took 25 in a 2-1 win in the West Indies in 2017 – Pakistan’s first series win in the Caribbean.
Yasir said Australia will miss the guile of banned duo Steven Smith and David Warner, who are each banned for a year for their part in a ball-tampering row in South Africa earlier this year.
“No doubt, Smith and Warner are two world-class players and Australia will miss them,” said Yasir. “(They) know the art of staying at the wicket so that will be missed by Australia.
“But we can’t take any team lightly. They have a few good players and a few of them I have played with in the Big Bash (Australia’s Twenty20 league) so I know their strong and weak points.
“You can’t say they are weak, maybe inexperienced. They’re always a strong side. That series (in 2014) was my first and so I’m going to try to improve on that.”
Australia’s hopes of winning back respect and moving on from a balltampering scandal that plunged the team into disgrace face their first test on Sunday when Tim Paine’s rebuilding side meet Pakistan in the series-opener in Dubai.
With former captain Steve Smith, and opening batsmen David Warner and Cameron Bancroft serving suspensions for ‘Sandpaper-gate’, the Australians have brought a vastly different squad to the Middle East from the one belted 3-1 in South Africa six months ago.
A whole third of the 15 in the United Arab Emirates have yet to play a test, and Paine’s side will feature three uncapped players when they head out into the Dubai heat to play Sarfraz Ahmed-captained Pakistan in the first match.
Paine will be supported by a new vice-captain in all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and a new coach in former test opener Justin Langer.
Change is also in the air back in Australia, with the nation’s cricket board announcing a successor to longserving CEO James Sutherland, even before the release of a review into the board’s culture and governance.
With a separate review into the culture of the men’s team also set to land, Australia will be under plenty of scrutiny during the two-test series which finishes in Abu Dhabi.
Paine, who many feel is only a caretaker captain until Smith becomes eligible for the role again, has no illusions about the scale of the task.
“We want to build a culture that makes people want to be better and produce not only better cricketers but better people,” he told Fairfax Media.
“If we can do that, that’s the sort of environment people want to be involved in and that culture spreads really quickly through the team rather than having to try and sell your culture all the time – just set that culture, live that culture, and guys that want to be involved will carry it through.”
Australia enjoyed a positive warmup, with opener Aaron Finch, middle order batsman Travis Head and the Marsh brothers all getting runs in the tour match against a Pakistan ‘A’ side.
That was enough for Langer to confirm one-day specialist Finch and South Australia skipper Head would play their first tests.
South Africa-born batsman Marnus Labuschagne was confirmed as the third debutant on Saturday, with Matt Renshaw overlooked due to match fitness concerns rather than concussion fears.
“The decision was made that he just hadn’t played enough cricket,” Paine said of Renshaw, who was struck in the head by the ball when fielding in the tour match.