Sports News

Spin the key as Pakistan plot South Africa demise

• October 9, 2013, 6:13 pm
• Sports News
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SHARJAH Oct 9 (Online): After his batsmen were made to hop, skip and jump by the express pace of the South African bowlers, Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul Haq is hoping to return the favours, albeit through his spinners, when cricketing hostility is renewed between the two countries in the UAE next week.

Even though Pakistan are coming off a nightmare series last month against minnows Zimbabwe, where they were lucky to draw the Test series 1-1 when they could have lost both, as well as a 3-0 whitewash in South Africa earlier this year, the vastly different playing conditions in the UAE is the biggest reason why Misbah and his men are still upbeat about their chances.

It was in the spin friendly conditions of the Emirates that Misbah’s men thrashed the then No1 Test team England last year, and they are dreaming of a somewhat similar result in the two-Test series against the current No1 team in the world.

The 39-year-old skipper said: “No doubt the South Africans are the No1 Test side in the world, but they are here in the UAE and it is an altogether different story.

“The weather and the conditions are very different here, and it will be very difficult for the fast bowlers and conducive for spinners. You can definitely say the conditions suit us better. Let’s just hope we can focus and play some good, hard cricket.

“Most of the wickets we played in South Africa had 10 or 15mm grass, which surely won’t be the case here. Having said that, they are world-class bowlers and they can bowl well in any condition, but if we apply ourselves as batsmen, we definitely have a better chance.

"We have showed that in the past here in 2010 when we fought hard against them. We really have a good record here in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. A big plus for us is that most of our guys played in the series against Sri Lanka and England last year. They are confident about the conditions and it is now just a question of playing to the best of our ability.”

Coach Dav Whatmore, who is under increasing pressure, added: “To me, two things are different. One, obviously the conditions. Then second is the fact that we have prepared better for this series. Before our trip to South Africa, we were more focused on the limited-overs format of the game. We may not have had a great result against Zimbabwe, but we are much better prepared for red-ball cricket this time.”

The spinners, led by the magical Saeed Ajmal, will be key to Misbah’s plan, but apart from saying that instructions have been given to the curators to prepare result-oriented pitches (read turning tracks), the Pakistan captain wasn’t revealing much.

When asked if he would play three spinners, Misbah replied: “I am not going to disclose that just yet. It’s a surprise that we will announce on the day of the match.

“Obviously, they are wary of Ajmal. But we have a few other bowlers who can trouble them. You can see the record of Abdur Rehman and how well he has bowled in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Our paceman Junaid Khan has also got some wickets here. So, we do have the variety in bowling to trouble them.

“I am also quite excited about our new bowler, (left-arm spinner) Zulfiqar Babar who has been bowling really well.

“Having said that, our batsmen will have to perform as well. The bowlers need to have some runs on the board to defend.

“We are looking forward to pitches that provide results. We are not here to play draws, we are here to win and we want result-oriented tracks. That is the instruction that has been given to the groundstaff.”