SRI LANKA coach Mickey Arthur and his Pakistan counterpart Misbah-ul-Haq speak during the news conferences on Tuesday.—White Star
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