A palate cleanser of sorts?
There’s no Inzamam, Younis, Wasim ...
THE BUILD-UP to the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan has been almost muted.
Pakistan lack the kind of star-billing that made last summer’s visitors India and Australia such thrilling acts. Throw in the Mzansi Super League and World Cup next year and it feels as if this series with Pakistan is a sort of palate cleanser between courses.
Pakistan don’t have the kind of household names of yore; there’s no Inzamam, Younis, Yusuf, Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib Akhtar or Misbah. This is, as their coach Mickey Arthur keeps saying, a humble group, quietly confident it can upset a South African side missing a key bowling component, while some elements in the batting are concerning.
And while missing the kind of big name that was a feature of their bowling in the 1990s, they do have some very talented resources who will find conditions in this country very much to their liking.
The spearhead of their attack is Mohammad Amir, who should now be entering into his peak years as a fast bowler. The 26 year old has worked very hard in the past few years to forge a new reputation for himself after his involvement in the infamous spot-fixing affair at Lord’s in 2010. Having plead guilty he spent six months in jail and was also banned by the ICC for five years.
His performance in the final of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy against India was viewed as a re-welcoming onto the world stage for one of the most talented young bowlers Pakistan has produced, but he needs a similar matching winning spell in Test cricket to really put himself among the great bowlers who Pakistan regularly produce
South Africa provides that opportunity. Amir is part of a well rounded Pakistan attack and if Mohammad Abbas is fit – he was being rated as 50-50 for the start of the first Test on Wednesday – along with leg-spinner Yasir Shah the tourists have an attack that will give the South African batsmen little respite.
South Africa’s batting will be under major scrutiny. The openers Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram are still to forge a really dominant partnership at the top of the order, Theunis de Bruyn – who along with Temba Bavuma will have fitness tests today – is still trying to establish himself in the side, and Hashim Amla has struggled for form of late.
Of the top seven batsmen only skipper Faf du Plessis and wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock can be labelled as being in-form and with Vernon Philander missing the Test in Centurion because of a hairline fracture on his right thumb, the tail is lengthy too.
Not that Pakistan’s batting is any better. Six times in the last two years, Pakistan have suffered second innings collapses – losing all 10 wickets in less than a day. Most recently it happened twice, against New Zealand, costing them a series which they largely controlled.
“Our captain and coach have emphasised this to us,” Asad Shafiq one of the tourists’ senior players said. “The conditions (in the UAE) were different, with spin being prominent late in the game, which won’t be the case (in South Africa). But we have to learn from those mistakes.”
Pakistan have spent a fruitful week training in South Africa and adjusting to the extra bounce in the surfaces here. “As batsmen we feel we have adjusted well,” Shafiq added.
Previous teams from Pakistan, despite containing some of that country’s greatest batsmen, have struggled here, winning just two Tests, but Shafiq believes the current group can make history.
“The new players like Babar (Azam) and Haris (Sohail) have proved themselves in Test cricket. As a batting unit we are stable, these new guys have very good techniques and very good temperaments to play in any conditions.”
Wednesday’s match starts at 10am.
SQUADS
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfaraz Ahmad (capt & wk), Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Hassan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Dane Paterson (cover for the first Test)
TEST SCHEDULE
1st Test – SuperSport Park, Dec 26-30 2nd Test – Newlands, Jan 3-7
3rd Test – The Wanderers, Jan 11-15