PAKISTAN ABOUT TO STEP INTO UNKNOWN

How hosts deal with absence of Misbah and Younis are among Paul Radley’s talking points ahead of Abu Dhabi Test against Sri Lanka

The first Test series after the retirements of Misbahul-Haq and Younis Khan starts for Pakistan cricket when their new-look team host Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. The struggling away side provide a cautionary example of how difficult it can be to fill the void of two batting titans. Sri Lanka are still trying to find their way after Mahela Jayawardene – three years ago – and Kumar Sangakkara – two – vacated the five-day scene.

Post Misbah

Misbah and his successor as Pakistan captain, Sarfraz, are contrasting personalities.

The former is reserved, studious, and understated. The latter is usually vividly animated, and speaks ten-to-the-dozen stream of consciousness.

And yet the succession plan feels, eerily, just right. There was no real sounding off before this appointment. No great politicising. No arguing.

Sarfraz has captained at a variety of different levels previously. And, crucially, he starts with immense credit in the bank, after the joyous Champions Trophy success in England this summer.

“I think the life has very much changed and the responsibilities are big, and for me this is the first opportunity as captain in the Test,” Sarfraz said. “It is a tough challenge and hopefully I will do well.”

Post Mis-You

It is difficult to know what Pakistan are going to miss more: the leadership of Misbah and Younis, or the guarantee of runs they provided.

Over 15,000 Test runs went with them when they retired after Pakistan’s tour of West Indies in May.

In their stead, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq have impressive records, even if they are not quite the dominant senior figures their forebears in Pakistan’s middle-order were. Dinesh Chandimal, the Sri Lanka captain, acknowledged his side had been granted a much-needed pick-me-up by the absence of the two Pakistan stalwarts.

“Younis and Misbah are wily old foxes,” Chandimal said. “They played some really good cricket over their careers.

“We can have a really good advantage because the main two guys aren’t there in their batting unit. We need to step up as a unit.”

Post Lahore

Test cricket in the UAE has always been a tough sell – at best. Returning here so soon after a triumphant Twenty20 series involving the World

XI in Lahore has left an even more hollow feeling than usual.

It all feels entirely after the Lord mayor’s show. No wonder the Pakistan players want to get back home as soon as possible.

The final match of the T20 series in scheduled to be played in Lahore, but has yet to be confirmed as Sri Lanka’s players are prevaricating.

“My message to the Sri Lankan team is to come and play in Pakistan, Pakistan is a safe country,” Sarfraz said. “We recently hosted three matches with the World XI and they were safe, so my message is to come and play in Pakistan.”

Chandimal, though, is cautious. “At the moment, the board has said we can go there, but we just want to see the security first,” Chandimal said.

“We haven’t discussed anything as a team, and we need to do that, and we will come up with the decision in the future.”

New rules

This Test is the first to be played with a tweaked set of playing conditions from the International Cricket Council.

Players guilty of “serious misconduct” – basically, violence on the field – can now be expelled from the rest of the game.

Batsmen will not be run out if the wicket is broken when their bat bounces after they have made their ground.

Maybe the most likely change to be invoked will be the fact that teams will now retain any reviews that come back as “umpire’s call” as per the Decision Review System.

Batsmen will also have their bats measured to make sure the depth is not too large. Pakistan’s have already met with the umpires to ward off any problems.

“All the players have their bats checked with umpire, so there are no such problems with the size of the bat,” Sarfraz said.

Tactics

And what of the actual game strategy? Loading the side with spinners and asking the groundsmen for a turner would hardly be a failsafe strategy for the home side.

Yes, Yasir Shah is fit and firing, but the visitors are not without their own slow-bowling excellence, primarily in the form of Rangana Herath, but also via promising left-arm chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan.

Pakistan do have pace bowling pedigree, too, but Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep are back for Sri Lanka, and they know their way around the pitches of the UAE. When these sides met here in 2014, they took 11 wickets in the match to set up the win for Sri Lanka in Dubai.