Dubai: Pakistan, high on confidence levels after their huge victory in the first Test in Abu Dhabi and a rare series win against Australia, will look to wrap the series as they take on New Zealand in the second Test at the Dubai International Stadium from today (Monday).
The Kiwis, focused on correcting their mistakes that they committed in the first Test after two days of intense training at ICC Academy and Dubai International Stadium, is geared up for the challenge. Both teams are aiming for a good start and both captains Misbah Ul Haq and Brendon McCullum candidly admitted that toss will be vital. Dubai wicket has a reputation of helping batsmen in the start and then getting slow and assist spinners.
“Sometimes it (toss) is an advantage but obviously it is out of our control, but the good thing is that we are batting well in the second innings as well so when the wicket gets slower, we are confident and we need to be ready even if we lose the toss,” said Misbah.
His opposite number McCullum too is keen on winning the toss. “It’s a pretty important toss after what happened from the last game. We have made some improvement from our last match. I am confident my guys will step up and make some adjustments and put in a good performance,” he said.
McCullum is relying heavily on his players to do a repeat of what happened in West Indies. “We’ve been in this situation before and bounced back. We lost heavily in Trinidad and came back to win the series against West Indies with a fine performance in Barbados. You never like losing but sometimes you have to admit you were second best, cop it on the chin and try to get better. I think we’ll be much improved in the next Test.”
McCullum believes that slight adjustments can make a huge difference. “We were slightly deficient in our last game and reverse swing played quiet a big part. We will try and do a little bit of tweeting in terms of how we go about to playing reverse swing. Sometimes just a mental shift against reverse swing and the dangers that can pose and once we do that we can start devise a game plan. Same with regard to spin because their spinners bowled at us really well the other day and once again it is a matter of learning a lesson. The only way to learn these lessons is by actually going out and confronting it. The guys have made some slight shifts and how they are going to approach the game remains to be seen and whether we can get our rewards from those shifts.”
Waqar Younis, the coach of the Pakistan team, who brought about the transition, was in a jovial mood. It was his 43rd birthday and he came to the press conference room and cut a cake organised by the media. A series win against New Zealand can be the best birthday gift from his players. Pakistan will play the third and final Test in Sharjah from November 26 to 30 and also compete in Twenty20 and five one-day internationals and Younis will want the momentum from Abu Dhabi to continue till the end of the tour.
Right now, McCullum can only hope to snap Pakistan’s victory run. He went on to hail Pakistan’s strength: “We have to make sure we are well researched on the guys who come in and we have got some game plans to suite. Certainly no doubt in the talent or depth that Pakistan has that whoever comes in will be a very good batsman and we have to make sure we have got some plans against him.”
