KARACHI: Judging by the body language of the two head coaches on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq presser was of a man looking unsure of how would he’ll plot the downfall of Sri Lanka in the final Test of the two-match series here at the National Stadium from Thursday, while Mickey Arthur, who until this year’s 50-over ICC World Cup was coaching Pakistan, presented a supremely confident appearance — as the new chief of the Sri Lanka’s coaching team.

“Both sides [Sri Lanka and Pakistan] would be pretty happy to have a decent outing despite all the rain and bad weather up there in Rawalpindi [during the first Test],” quipped Arthur. “It doesn’t matter at all who holds the psychological advantage at this stage. I think both these teams did extremely well in the cold, damp conditions at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.”

The South African-born Arthur, who had also been the head coach with his native country and Australia as well before taking over the role with Pakistan, was elated to be part of the landmark return of Test cricket to Pakistan after more than 10 years of complete blackout.

“It has been simply great for me personally to be part of this historic Test series. I am so happy to be back at the ground [in Rawalpindi] to witness Pakistan’s first Test at home in more than 10 years. That was a very, very special [occasion] from my perspective,” Arthur stressed. “Pakistan, for sure, holds a very special place in my heart. I spent some quality time which was great since the [Pakistani] boys have been outstanding, and I am in contact with a lot of them. We always talk and always have some banter. So it is really good once again to see them all and extremely delighted to be back in Pakistan.”

When pressed for views on his ‘special relationship’ with Misbah, Arthur promptly responded: “The scenario has obviously been different this time and the colour of my [national] shirt has changed since! It is about Sri Lanka and Pakistan now and, not about Misbah and myself.

Fawad Alam likely to sit out historic Karachi Test

“I respect Misbah a lot and he respects me; we’ve great respect for each other from time Misbah was Pakistan captain and I being the head coach. There’s a bigger agenda to deal with the [ICC] World Test Championship in place and that’s a Test match between two proud cricketing teams. It is not about the coaches, it is not about the support staff, it is about the players on the ground.

“I am not wearing the green [of Pakistan] anymore. But I know exactly what these guys think because I have reiterated this some million times that the three years I had with Pakistan were incredible years. Pakistan is very, very dear to my heart, it really is. I loved every minute of my three years here. I did call them ‘we’, but now I am in opposition dressing room so Pakistan are ‘they’ for me. After all, we have come here to play a Test series and we are here to win.

“But having said that, I think there are some wonderful players competing in this series. I always knew the quality that Babar Azam brings. He’s always been a very good player in international cricket. We [Sri Lanka] needed to bowl well at him in the Rawalpindi game but he [Babar] batted beautifully on the last day in front of electrifying crowd and so did Abid Ali with a memorable debut century. The crowd there was unbelievable despite all the stoppages and frustrations surrounding the series opener.”

Assessing the conditions in Karachi and the selection issues concerning his team, Arthur hinted at changes in the playing XI for the deciding match here.

“Kasun Rajitha won’t play here after picking a hamstring injury in that opening Test. He’s definitely ruled out, but Asitha Fernando has joined the squad. Asitha is good young bowler and gives us a backup option,” the Sri Lanka coach stated. “The conditions here will be quite different from what they were in Rawalpindi. We will take our time in making sure we select a team that can take early wickets here. Maybe we could opt for a bowling line-up of two spinners and two pacers, but that is the future.”

Commenting on the selection of prolific Pakistan batsman Fawad Alam, Arthur observed: “I’m really happy to see him getting a call. He played his last Test 10 years ago, so that was even before I came into the picture but there were other coaches then. What happened 10 years ago when Fawad last played wasn’t my aim when I arrived here. It was about developing young players. But it’s great for Fawad because I follow every scorecard in the Quaid e Azam Trophy and watched every individual score to see who’s playing well and who’s not. I was amazed to see Fawad Alam keep scoring runs; that’s a credit to him, credit to his mental capacity. It will be really good for Fawad to make a comeback here.

“Tactically I was surprised to see Pakistan not playing any spinner in Rawalpindi. But, at the end of the day, that could be the demand of conditions that forced them to play a quartet of pace bowlers.”

However, in contrast to Arthur’s assessment of Fawad, Misbah sounded non-committal on playing the doughty left-hander in the final Test.

“Look he got picked in the squad because of his performances this season but at the end of the day we have to consider other factors before deciding which is going to be the best combination in the given conditions. I don’t think Haris Sohail has done that badly with a couple of centuries over the past two seasons,” Misbah told the press conference. “This is not possible that we can overlook the good performances in international cricket and instead of some players, we bring in someone else. But when we think that there’s need for a change then the guy gets the opportunity to play and performance. That’s how it works.

“Fawad [who batted for a long period in the nets on Tuesday], no doubt, has been performing exceptionally in recent seasons and works very hard at his game. But at the end of day, we have to look at the requirements of the team and consider other options.”

Misbah was frank in saying Pakistan do have drawbacks in the bowling department and that area is the main reason of the team’s inconsistent showing in recent series in Australia. “There is no doubt we are lacking in certain areas and the inexperienced bowling is a big worry for Pakistan. The bowlers we have are quite young, I mean look at Shaheen Shah Afridi and Nasim Shah. They are still raw in international cricket and have a long way to go. But we are backing them because they have the potential to be world-beaters.

“However, my main concern is the lack of depth and experience in our bowling, particularly at the Test level. The experienced ones [Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz] are unavailable for red-ball cricket. This shortcoming needs to be reviewed [by the cricket board] because at the end of the day, these bowlers are just focusing on white-ball stuff which weakens our overall planning and strategy since a right mix is the one going forward. So basically, I think we have to do a rethink on that front.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan suffered a setback early on Tuesday when Usman Khan Shinwari was admitted to hospital after contracting high fever and an unspecified infection. The left-arm speedster, who made his Test debut in the Rawalpindi match, is unlikely to recover in time to be considered for the start of the Karachi Test.

Both teams, in the meantime, had extensive practice sessions in pleasant conditions as they prepare for what should be a cracking encounter with the weather unlikely to dampen their spirits.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2019