Abu Dhabi: For the first time on this tour, the Australians have their backs to the wall as they are staring at their first possible Test series defeat since the Ashes loss in England last year.
They will have to clinch the second Test against Pakistan, starting on Thursday at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium, to avoid the embarrassment of being the first Australian side to lose a Test series against Pakistan since 1994.
The spin-friendly, slow, dusty UAE pitches have exposed Australia’s struggle on turning tracks, their 221-run defeat in the first Test being their biggest against Pakistan in 20 years. Amongst the batsmen, only David Warner and Steve Smith have found form while their bowlers just couldn’t make an impact. No 3 batsman Alex Doolan was all at sea in both the innings and the Australian think-tank might be tempted to opt for Phil Hughes as his replacement.
Skipper Michael Clarke, coming after a long injury lay-off, was in woeful form with scores of two and three in the first Test.
However, he is one of their best players of spin who can spend more hours at the crease and is capable of grinding the opposition. The need of the hour is to bat long and score big to give any chance for their bowlers to put pressure on the Pakistan batsmen.
While Pakistan’s spin duo Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah took 14 of the 20 Australian wickets, rival counterparts Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe were ineffective, which would be a big worry for the visitors. Speedster Mitchell Johnson will also have to play a pivotal role if Aussies have to fancy their chances.
Pakistan, on the other hand, is unlikely to make any changes to the line-up from the first Test. After the entire off-field drama during the ODI series, Misbah-ul-Haq’s men have shown tremendous character at a time when most would have written them off.
The victory was all the more inspiring, considering that they had the weakest attack in star bowler Saeed Ajmal’s absence. All the inexperienced bowlers grabbed the opportunity with both hands and the spirit to do well was clearly evident — something that they missed during the ODI series.
Younis Khan, who struck a ton in each innings in Dubai to become the 12th player to score a century against every Test-playing nation and join illustrious names such as Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Brian Lara, will once again be the man to watch out for. Misbah, himself, has always put a price on his wicket and he would try and occupy the crease for as long as possible.
Pakistan will also be banking on both centurions Sarfraz Ahmad and Ahmad Shehzad for a repeat performance and if spinners Babar and Shah can weave the same magic with the ball, Pakistan can start the battle as favourites.
The Shaikh Zayed Stadium has hosted five Tests previously with only two of them seeing results — against England and South Africa — and the remaining have ended in stalemate.
