Pakistan’s favourable draw in the previous World Test Championship cycle had even the most pessimistic supporters pandering to the possibility of the men in green qualifying for the final.

Babar’s boys were pencilled in to face a perceivably weaker opposition away from home, in Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and Bangladesh, whereas they were scheduled to host three major SENA countries in Australia, England, and New Zealand, in what was billed to be a marquee home season — something that had evaded them for over a decade and a half due to security concerns on local shores.

The reality, however, was akin to slipping on a banana peel at a fancy gala, as the proud cricketing nation managed to win four out of six away Tests, with a loss each in Jamaica and Galle, only to go winless in eight games on home turf.

To paint a more dire picture, Pakistan lost the series decider against Australia in Lahore after having drawn the first two matches, before suffering their first-ever whitewash in Test cricket on home soil at the hands of England’s Bazballers, and producing two stalemates shortly after vs New Zealand. To make matters worse, Babar Azam had earned the unwanted distinction of becoming the first Pakistan captain in history to be at the receiving end of four consecutive Test defeats at home in the process. So yes, to say that they botched it, would be an understatement of enormous proportions.

On the bright side, all of the aforementioned is in the past now, as team Pakistan is set to embark on a new two-year-long journey in cricket’s most prestigious format, starting with a two-match Test tour of Sri Lanka, which commences on July 16 in Galle.

Given that Pakistan are set to travel to Australia and South Africa later in this cycle — two venues that they are yet to conquer in the longest format — the results of this Sri Lankan tour could dictate their chances of featuring in the final two years from now, thereby raising the stakes of this bout significantly.

Now that you have all that context, here are five things to look out for, as Pakistan’s cricketers look to resume their duties in the longest format.

The number three position

Seven thousand, four hundred and two runs at an average of 42.26, including 19 hundreds and 35 fifties, scored over a span of 97 Tests. That is how Azhar Ali’s record reads in Pakistani whites, who retired from international cricket at the end of 2022, after having been a mainstay at number three for over a decade.

Those, by no means, are easy boots to fill, and the batter tasked with the job in the direct aftermath of Azhar’s farewell was the Kuwait-born left-hander Shan Masood, who had a decade of Test experience and a stellar season in the County Championship for Derbyshire.

In three innings batting at first drop vs New Zealand, however, Shan managed scores of 3, 10 and 20. He scored 35 runs at number four in his final innings of the series, due to Mir Hamza being promoted ahead of him as night-watchman, and his average batting at one down is a paltry 26.83 across six attempts — not far behind his career average of 28.30 in 28 Tests.

That said, Masood does boast an impressive record in the solitary Test he has played in Sri Lankan conditions, averaging 69 with the bat, courtesy of a fourth innings hundred in Pallekele all the way back in 2015. His knock of 125 runs, which helped Misbah’s unit chase down a gargantuan target of 377 — Pakistan’s highest chase in Test match history — in addition to a quick-fire 83 off just 67 deliveries in a tour game on the current visit, bode well for Shan, making him the likely choice at number three for this series.

Then again, Shan is 33 years old, and is competing with the prodigious 21-year-old Mohammad Hurraira from Sialkot, who averages a monstrous 68.24 in 24 First Class games, becoming the second-youngest triple centurion in Pakistan’s domestic circuit a little over a year ago, only behind the legendary Javed Miandad.

While Shan Masood will likely start for Pakistan in Galle, it will be interesting to see if he can retain his spot in the second Test, provided he does not fail, with Hurraira’s youthful promise breathing down his neck.

Spin bowling resources

Spin bowling plays an integral part towards any team’s success on Sri Lankan soil, particularly in Test cricket. And in Pakistan’s previous tour of the island nation, their best-performing spinner was Mohammad Nawaz, who accounted for 10 wickets in four innings, at roughly 26 runs apiece.

While those numbers are not shabby, Pakistan’s spinners lacked precision for the most part, which proved to be a critical factor in Babar & Co not being able to return home as series victors.

After being spoiled by Saeed Ajmal and Yasir Shah’s success for a decade — the former winning Pakistan Test matches almost single-handedly, and the latter breaking the record for the quickest bowler to 200 Test wickets — Pakistan found itself in a bit of a pickle, as far as turning the ball was concerned.

This time, however, might prove to be different. Partnering Nawaz, Nauman Ali, and Salman Ali Agha — three spinners who were present on the 2022 tour — will be the young leg-break sensation Abrar Ahmed, who took 11 wickets on Test match debut vs England in Multan in December of last year, and has a whopping 104 scalps to his name in just 18 First Class fixtures — a phenomenal statistic.

Abrar is a unique leg-spinner, such that he primarily relies on his fingers to add revolutions to the ball, as opposed to his wrists, and will pose a fresh challenge to Sri Lanka’s capable batting artillery. Whether that challenge will be daunting enough, remains to be seen. Pakistan fans, though, have every reason to be excited.

The wicket-keeping conundrum

The last time Pakistan played a Test Series, they made one extremely notable change to their lineup. Veteran glovesman Sarfaraz Ahmed made a return to the playing XI after a gap of nearly four years, replacing the relatively out-of-form superstar wicket-keeper, Mohammad Rizwan.

With respect to performances with the bat, the former Pakistan skipper excelled to the point that he comfortably bagged the Player of the Series award, ending as the leading run-scorer with 335 runs in four innings at a staggering average of 83.75, racking up three half-centuries and a game-saving ton in the process, having played a pivotal role in ensuring that Pakistan did not succumb to a third consecutive Test Series defeat at home.

Behind the stumps, however, Sarfaraz appeared to be a shadow of his former self, being guilty of a host of errors, which cost Pakistan dearly in the field. One could argue that the 36-year-old was rusty, but such blunders are inexcusable at the highest level, particularly when you are competing with arguably one of the finest glovesman in world cricket: Mohammad Rizwan. Add Sri Lanka’s spin-conducive tracks to the equation, and keeping wicket becomes all the more intimidating.

Both stalwarts average over 38 with the bat in the longest format, but Sarfaraz, being the impeccable player of spin that he is, averages a colossal 78.16 in five Tests in Sri Lanka, which far exceeds Rizwan’s rather ordinary average of 30 in four innings in the same country.

Keeping those variables in mind, it will be fascinating to see whether Pakistan can somehow find a way to field both players in a Test or two, in order to maximize Sarfaraz’s batting utility against spin, and Rizwan’s wicket-keeping efficiency.

While that may well be an ambitious thought, it is definitely something Babar Azam and Grant Bradburn should consider, or ponder upon at the very least, in the build-up to Galle. Bear in mind that Rizwan is Pakistan’s designated vice captain for this tour, which could potentially complicate matters.

Saud Shakeel — the overseas Test batter

Few players have had to wait for their turn in Pakistan’s contemporary red-ball setup as much as Saud Shakeel has. The middle-order batter was first selected in the Test squad in the summer of 2020, when Pakistan were off to play a Test Series in England, in what was their first long format assignment in the post-pandemic era. It wasn’t until they hosted the same opposition in December 2022 that Saud was finally presented with his Test cap.

The southpaw from Karachi did not disappoint, as he went on to amass 580 runs at an average of 72.5 in five Test matches at home, against formidable opposition in England and New Zealand, scoring five fifties and a maiden Test ton in just 10 innings.

As remarkable a start as that is, Saud is yet to represent Pakistan in an overseas Test match, due to which it remains a mystery whether he is an all-conditions batter. For context, in five innings for Yorkshire in the County Championship this season, Shakeel failed to cross 35, averaging a miserable 14.2 with the bat.

There is some precedent, however, as to how he may fare on Sri Lanka’s slow and low turners. In late 2021, the now 27-year-old technician captained the Shaheens against Sri Lanka A in two unofficial Test matches, scoring a ton in the second one, averaging 127 with the bat in two innings, albeit, as an opener.

Even though that sample size is undoubtedly too low, Shakeel plays the ball late, is compact in his stroke-play, and comes across as a batter who is technically very sound, in addition to being a delightful player off the back-foot.

Conventional wisdom suggests that Saud will be successful in Asian conditions, but how he copes with the pressures of an overseas assignment for the national team is something that is unquestionably on the radar of cricket aficionados.

The pace attack

Perhaps the single most exciting prospect of Pakistan’s upcoming Test Series vs Sri Lanka is that spectators will finally get to see Shaheen Shah Afridi in action with the red ball once again.

The lethal left-arm seamer, who is one of Pakistan’s most important assets across all three formats, has stockpiled 99 wickets in a career spanning 25 Tests, at an impressive average of 24.86 with ball in hand.

Having injured his knee on Pakistan’s previous tour of Sri Lanka, it is an absolute certainty that Shaheen will be raring to go in search of his hundredth Test victim, after a year-long hiatus from the format — one which he holds in very high regard.

What is more interesting, however, is that Pakistan have had a tendency to go in with a pace-heavy attack on spin-friendly surfaces, in a bid to maximise their strength, which has forever been fast bowling, since the dawn of time itself.

Based on the squad composition, and evidence from the recently concluded tour game, it would come as no surprise if Pakistan field three pacers in Galle. In addition to Shaheen, they have three right-arm pacers in Naseem Shah, Hasan Ali, and Aamir Jamal at their disposal — the latter two offering some cushion with the bat as well.

To top it off, in the 2022 Series in Sri Lanka, Pakistan were triumphant in the Test match where they fielded a pace-heavy attack, and lost the Test in which they loaded their lineup with spinners.

The Galle track has traditionally been considered to be a spinner’s paradise, where batting fourth can prove to be a task and three quarters, so Pakistan’s bowling strategy could very well define the outcome of this Test series. The onus will be on Babar and the team management, to assess the pitch and playing conditions to the best of their collective abilities, and make a call accordingly.

The author is a former IT consultant who currently works as a cricket correspondent and video content lead at Grassroots Cricket in addition to producing podcasts with renowned cricket journalist Jarrod Kimber, making frequent appearances on ABN news as a cricket expert and doing voiceovers and hosting Twitter spaces for GAME Sports Management. He tweets at @DeafMango

Header photo: Pakistan’s players walk back to the pavilion at the end of the first day of the second cricket Test match between Pakistan and New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi on Jan 2. — AFP/file