WARY AUSTRALIA TAKE ON PAKISTAN IN BOXING DAY TEST TODAY

MELBOURNE : Skipper Misbah-ulHaq hinted on Sunday that Sohail Khan may come in to break up Pakistan’s three-man left-arm pace attack in the second Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne.

The tourists are not expected to tinker with their batting after a heroic effort which took them within 40 runs of what would have been a world record win in last week’s Brisbane seriesopener. But there was speculation that Rahat Ali, who took two wickets in Brisbane, could make way for either Sohail or Imran Khan.

Pakistan’s three-man left-arm pace attack was criticised at the Gabba for being one-dimensional and lacking variety. Misbah gave little away team-wise but praised Sohail’s work ethic.

“Sohail is working hard and he is the guy who gave us fivefors in the previous matches and that’s what we look for when he plays,” he told reporters on Sunday.

“He bowls the new ball very well and if he gets you two or three wickets with the new ball. He is also good with the reverse swing.

“Obviously he knows that he needs to be good in the later spells because you have to bowl at least 20 overs a day. We are hoping that he will be okay.”

Misbah said Pakistan’s bowling had been as much of a problem as their batting on recent tours of Australia. But he is hopeful for a big response at the MCG.

“It’s not just a challenge for the batsmen. It’s a challenge for the bowlers as well,” he said.

“The conditions are totally different here, especially for the Asian teams. “

“As a bowler you need to adjust to these conditions, otherwise you are giving away too many runs and leaking too many boundaries and not putting any sort of pressure on the opposition,” he added.