Adelaide
Confirming changes in the test squad for the second match against Australia at the Adelaide Oval, Pakistan Test Captain Azhar Ali has said that fast bowler Muhammad Abbas would play after he had regained desired rhythm.
Addressing a pre-match press conference at the Adelaide Oval here on Thursday, he said Muhammad Abbas is a seasoned campaigner who bowls with lots of control and would help team stop flow of runs, adding that the experienced fast bowler had lot more to offer.
Pakistan team management came under lots of criticism for not playing Muhammad Abbas in the first test. The team could not get early wickets and gave away 580 runs and lost the first test match by an innings and 5 runs.
About Naseem Shah, he said,”Talent wise Naseem Shah belongs here but he is only 16 and has a young body.we want to manage his skills carefully so that he could play and serve Pakistan cricket long”, adding, “Unfortunately the last couple of weeks have not been good for him due to his personal loss but the good things is that whenever he came to bowl he bowled with pace and ferocity in the first test match at Brisbane”.
“Muhammad Musa, though short-statured, had great potential and bowled with pace and accuracy while he would do well whenever he gets an opportunity”,he responded.
About the lack of fast bowlers on the national scene, he said the use of duke balls produced medium-pacers and not fast bowlers for the past 4-5 years,adding that it encouraged medium-pacers rather than quicks with disadvantage to the batsmen. He said introduction of kookaburra balls in the domestic cricket would produce more fast bowlers.
About failure to get 20 wickets in Australia, Azhar Ali admitted the team had struggled to get 20 wickets,adding that the cricket pitches in Australia were equally good for batting despite being bowler friendly, stressing the bowlers need to execute plans perfectly in order to get 20 wickets in the match and put the opposition under pressure.
To a question, Azhar Ali said he would bat at number 3 while Imam ul Haq or Abid Ali would be included in the team to open the innings alongside Shan Masood.
Azhar Ali was all praise for Australian batsmen who batted really well on these pitches,adding that David Warner batted very well as he is a great batsman,admitting Pakistan bowlers had missed the trick of not bowling him round the wicket
Pink ball cricket has its own challenges and the teams had to manage the game session to session, adding the team which manages the first session with the new ball and the session under lights eventually get an upper hand.
To a question,Azhar Ali said more test matches in Australia would provide opportunity to the batsmen to score more runs, adding Pakistan team wanted to play more test matches regretting it did not get many test matches.
About the chances of winning pink-ball test in Australia, Pakistan test team captain said there is no advantage to any team but the team which draws first blood in the match will be the front-runner. However, he stressed the need of more practice matches or sessions before a pink ball test but admitted it was same for the both teams.
To a question,he said the D/N test match is more about controlling sessions and you need to play the evening session under lights with as much care as you play the new ball.
Azher Ali said the team was in high spirits for the second test match as there were many positives from the lost game in Brisbane, claiming the team could draw the series through a win if it performed like it did on the third and fourth day of the first test match of the series.
Australia Thursday named an unchanged team for the day-night second Test against Pakistan after trouncing them in Brisbane, but took a risk by releasing concussion substitute Cameron Bancroft.
The home side easily won the first Test by an innings and five runs inside four days, but selectors resisted the urge to rest one of their strike bowlers or add a fourth to help share the load at Adelaide Oval.
That means swing bowler Michael Neser will be 12th man when the Test starts on Friday, with paceman James Pattinson and batsman Bancroft released to play domestic cricket.
“We’re unchanged,” said skipper Tim Paine. “Obviously we thought we played a pretty good game of cricket last week (in Brisbane).
“Our attack is all feeling good and fresh and they have all got great pink-ball records so no need to change.”
Bancroft’s departure to play for Western Australia in Perth means there will be no immediate batting substitute in case of a concussion.
Paine joked that “we’ll just get someone out the crowd”, before adding: “‘Bangers’ is a couple of hours away on a plane so if anything does happen, we will be able to get him back pretty quickly.”—AFP
