Pakistan toil hard to plot England openers' downfall

Dubai: Pakistan's senior team toiled hard at the International Cricket Council Global Cricket Academy Oval ground No 2 while England and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) XI played their warm-up match next door.

Pakistan divided their senior team into two by including some of the local club players from Irfan Cricket Academy and the Phoenix Medicines team as fielders.

Openers Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar were seen batting confidently, putting on a half-century partnership without being separated. Coach Mohsin Khan acted as the umpire in the match, providing tips to his players frequently.

Similar pitches

Pakistan's pacers, especially Wahab Riaz, were seen generating some excellent pace. Speaking after a hard workout, 32-year-old fast bowler Aizaz Cheema said that he will target getting England openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook out very early in the Test series which starts next week.

"Strauss and Cook pose the real challenge at the top of the order because they are a very mature opening pair. I will do my best to get early swing and get them out early because when you get openers early it will put pressure on the middle order," said Cheema, who made a sensational debut last year against Zimbabwe, bagging eight wickets in Bulawayo.

And Cheema is not worried about England's No 1 Test status. "They must be the top team in the world but we need to do the basics right, like we always do, and if you give 100 per cent then any team will struggle," he said.

Cheema believes that the conditions here are no different here than they are in Pakistan. "The conditions and the pitches are similar to Pakistan and so we don't have any problems. Out batsmen are doing well and whenever someone has flopped another has chipped in. If the batsmen can put in a good total, it will be good for the bowlers," said Cheema, who took five wickets in his last Test match against Bangladesh at Mirpur last month, when Pakistan won by seven wickets.