Selectors up to the Test

Pakistan’s squad was announced for the series against England and there are a few concerns

As the first Test begins this week in what is clearly an intriguing contest – not least because these two teams fought through the final of the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup a few days back and were on even keel in the T20I series played back in September — Pakistan have made both bold and conservative selection in the 18 member squad to face the tourists.

There is the dropping of the experienced Yasir Shah and Fawad Alam and recall of Shan Masood; retention of seniors like Sarfaraz Ahmed and Azhar Ali, the former clearly an injury back up to Rizwan only.

On the other hand, induction of Mohammad Ali and Abrar Ahmed is heartening. Some doesn’t make sense like Wasim Jr in a longer format while ignoring Mir Hamza and Zafar Gauhar and persevering with Nauman Ali.

Mostly though it is a side that has balance and as Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim said, they can only go with what they have and can only experiment cautiously. Good to see though that domestic cricket is being given importance and consideration.

Let’s have a detailed look at how the squad line up then, especially against the tourists strengths and weaknesses.

The opening question

This was a no brainer really. The sort of form they have been and the performance they have given this year, the pair of Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq simply waltzed into the side, even though Imam had a modest series considering the standards he set against Australia.

He managed less than 120 in the four innings but importantly he got good starts of 32, 35 and 49. As such he saw off the new ball which is the first priority of an opener.

Shafique too had one big innings of 160 not out which saw Pakistan to a remarkable victory in the first Test; otherwise his other three innings brought in only 19.

The question remains though whether, considering their heroics at home earlier against Australia, Pakistan should be able to weather the probing new ball attack of Jimmy Anderson and Mark Wood at the start of the innings.

This England opening attack has more pace and swing than what Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood had in them. None of them bowled at speeds above 150 km/hr as Wood is capable of throughout an over while Anderson’s seam and swing is on another level.

Wood also bowls at a hard length and judging by how he bowled here in the T20I series in September will be raising it up chest to chin high for the Pakistani pair.

Yes those were short spells of two overs twice and he was bowling in the relatively more comfortable nighttime. But pace has its impact no matter where and when. In not too dissimilar conditions in West Indies earlier this year before he sustained the elbow injury he appeared in his comfort zone.

It would also be wrong to bracket Anderson as a bowler in English conditions. Yes, he won’t get what he does on a cool Old Trafford or Headingley, but he can adapt well. Oh but he just turned 40 you can say. Well, considering he is as fit as he was when he toured Sri Lanka and India last year, he will be a threat.

At Galle he returned with 6-40 in 29 overs, at Chennai 3-17 in 11 and at Ahmedabad 3-44 in 25. That shows not just his penetration skills but his stamina in sub continental conditions.

Nevertheless it’s good to see Shan coming back to the Test side. He’s worked hard on his technique ever since he got those three consecutive ducks in New Zealand in the two Tests he played there some two years ago that led to his dropping.

Some 30-odd runs in his previous five innings didn’t help either; in fact his extended run despite his failures was due to the fact that he had scored hundreds in three successive Test innings (including a 156 in England). His outstanding summer with Derbyshire stands him in further good stead as well, double hundred and all.

His inclusion means that the chances of Azhar Ali stepping up to open in case one or both the openers disappoint in the first two Tests has lessened.

Having said that this could possibly be his last season for Pakistan. Yes he got that 180-odd against Australia but it was a dead track. Through the last year he has batted as an ascetic, taking far too long and being overly defensive through the Test innings he played in Bangladesh, this year against Australia and in the first Test against Sri Lanka, before he was dropped for the second.

It could even be that Shan comes in at No.3 instead of him. But then he probably wouldn’t have been selected. If he is then the decent things to do would be to play him at least in the first Test and to take it from there. It would be too insulting for him to sit it out.

Strength in the middle

In sharp contrast to the puerile middle order of the T20 side, the men who held the fort in the longer format have done comparatively better, though aside from Rizwan against Australia, there have been no hundreds and hardly any fifties.

Take away that epic 196 by skipper Babar that was the fulcrum of Pakistan’s defiance in the Karachi Test against Australia, Rizwan is the only other bater to have got to three figures which incidentally came in the same innings.

Other than that, it was a collapse in the middle that cost Pakistan the losses against Australia in Lahore and Sri Lanka in Galle in the second Test, matches that Pakistan should have saved.

In the Sri Lankan series, numbers 4-7 could only put together 122 in the first innings of the second Test and 56 in the second as Babar moved up to No.3.

Earlier in the first Test the contribution was 148 with 119 of them from Babar Azam (Azhar batted one down then) and 112 in the second when opener Shafique alone scored an unbeaten 160.

A Test earlier against Australia Pakistan had collapsed from 142-2 to 235 all out on the last day on a flat bed, nos. 4-7 cobbling together 87 of which Babar contributed 55.

One of the casualties of that under par performance in the middle has been Fawad Alam, dropped from the current squad. Though some say that it is unfair that he be dropped after two bad series considering how well he performed throughout 2021, but it’s not just the fact that he has fetched only 58 runs in his last 6 innings.

The bowling coaches and analysts seem to have figured out a chink in his armour; bowling at him from round the wicket and bringing the ball into him. Five times out of those six he’s been LBW or bowled or caught behind on that line and length, the other time being run out.

There have been those who felt that Usman Salahuddin could have come in but I like what Wasim said at the press conference, that those who have been on the bench in previous series get the first shot, something that wasn’t practiced earlier when players would be axed after sitting on the sidelines on tours. Saud Shakeel thus gets first priority.

However, with the bringing in of Salman Ali Agha and Mohammad Nawaz in the last series against Sri Lanka, the strategy seems to be to play with five specialist batsmen (if Rizwan is to be counted as one) and all-rounders at Nos. 6 and 7, where Faheem Ashraf has also featured.

As such Saud may still not get in unless Azhar or Shan don’t play at one down and Babar moves up, as he did in the previous Test in Sri Lanka. I believe though that whatever is the structure of the middle order, they will do better than what they have in the last three Tests.

England do not seem to have a lot going for them if Anderson and Wood don’t get early breakthroughs. Ollie Robinson and Jamie Overton have fought their way back in the side this summer but are untested on Asian pitches.

They may not even play if skipper Stokes sees himself as the third seamer and plays two spinners considering Asian conditions. It all depends on how fit he feels; the balmy conditions in Pakistan may test his fragile muscles of late.

Whether he does or not, his spinners may not be as penetrating as both Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson found when they were here in March with the Australia.

England have on the way to Pakistan have added another spinner, the 18-years old prodigy Rehan Ahmed, whose father migrated to UK from Mirpur here.

He first turned heads when, aged only 11, he clean bowled Ben Stokes and Alastair Cook while bowling to them in the nets. Eventually selected early this year by England for the under-19 World Cup he took 12 wickets helping England reach the final.

In 13 ODIs for England’s U19 side, Rehan has taken 24 wickets, at a stunning economy of 3.87 an over. He’s more than useful with the bat too. In a match this summer, he scored a hundred and took a five-for and was on course to participate in the Pakistan Junior League when England pulled him out to train with the England side.

In fact, he was bowling in the nets as England trained in UAE and was asked to join the full side last Wednesday. If he gets to make his Test debut next month, he’ll become the youngest to play for England. Probably the only England cricketer, at least in modern times, to play for England with only three First-Class games under his belt in which he has bowled some 80-odd overs only.

In the original selection they had only one specialist turner in Jack Leach and he has ambivalent record on Asian pitches. On the two tours of Asian countries last year, he got 10 wickets in 2 Tests against Sri Lanka with 5-122 in one innings.

Against India he got 18 in 4 Tests and was more consistent, thrice taking 4 in an innings. Thrice on that combined tour he went for over 100 runs in an innings.

Joe Root is there with his occasional off spin while Liam Livingstone and Will Jacks, who’s main function remains as middle order batters, will also fill in the back up spinner’s role if either plays.

England may just select one of them ahead of Harry Brook if only for that added advantage on Pakistani pitches. They could then go with the third specialist paceman also. Or play him as an allrounder at No.7 if they want to go with two pacemen and Stokes.

Either way the Pakistani middle order should be able to handle them in home conditions.

In the fast lane

I was a bit disappointed in not seeing Mir Hamza coming into the side considering Shaheen Shah Afridi isn’t available. He may not have great pace but he swings the ball well and late.

By overlooking him Pakistan doesn’t have a left arm paceman this series, something that would have come in useful against opening batsman Zak Crawley with a weakness on and outside his off stump, something that would have been tested by the ball angling across.

That the selectors have gone for Mohammad Wasim who has hardly played first class cricket is further perplexing. He has played only seven matches in red-ball cricket and took 20 wickets.

Compare that with Hamza’s 376 in 92 games and has played for Pakistan a few years back. This season alone Hamza has 16 wickets in 4 matches at 24. They’ve selected Mohammad Ali with 24 in 6 games at 25.54 and just on stats, Hamza in the longer format has done better than both and certainly deserved a chance ahead of them.

Regarding Haris Rauf, he’s clearly been brought in for his pace and experience now that Afridi is unavailable. Even if he had not had that injury Pakistan may have guarded him from playing the longer format so soon after his comeback.

So Haris’ inclusion was on the cards and he has been in the Test squad previously. There is the question raised that he doesn’t play First-Class cricket and his temperament for the longer version is untested.

But he remains supremely fit and his pace, especially if the pitches are benign, just may help. However he bowls a hard length which saps energy more and he will perhaps be used in short spells.

Still his experience can be helpful against an England batting that has attack in its DNA now. Jennings is the only new face in a line-up that decimated the bowling attacks of New Zealand, India and South Africa in almost all outings against them.

On more batting friendly tracks of Pakistan, Crawley, Nick Pope, Root, Stokes and one from Brook, Ben Duckett and Livingstone will be ruthless. How he handles that pressure with not so many fielders out in the deep will be interesting viewing.

All round strength

England clearly have the edge in the quality aspect with Ben Stokes on another level. Pakistan have the more quantity with Salman, Nawaz and Faheem; which two play depends on what strategy Pakistan go with and the nature of the pitch.

I probably see Salman who bowls off spin and left armer Nawaz playing as Pakistan look likely to attack with spin as they normally do in home Tests; for that matter when they played in UAE also.

Still the quality needs to be tested. Salman does have a half-century from four innings in Sri Lanka but managed just 21 in rest of three innings.

Nawaz has disappointed too. He was there with 19 when Pakistan won the first Test against Sri Lanka when 39 were still needed and 4 wickets left. But aside from that, he could only put together 29 in three attempts.

Their bowling was tepid as well, with only Nawaz getting one good return (5-88); Nawaz had three from the other three and Salman took his solitary wicket in the second innings of the second Test.

And these were on Sri Lankan pitches, more amenable to spin than even Pakistani pitches. This season Salman has seven wickets in nine games in red-ball cricket at an average touching 50.

If Pakistan go for a pace allrounder, Faheem is the only option though with eight wickets in six games at 46.13, he ranks far below to what Aamir Jamal has put up: 25 wickets in eight games at 31.54.

Perhaps his batting edged him ahead, with a hundred this season and averaging over 50; Aamir has 171 runs in 8 innings at less than 25.

Giving it a spin

Pakistan have selected Nauman Ali, Zahid Mehmood and Abrar as their specialist spinners but neither infuses confidence. Nauman was ineffective in the second Test against Sri Lanka where the opposition spinners thrived; at home against Australia he hardly took any wickets whereas Lyon spun Australia to victory; almost twice for that matter.

I’m surprised he’s been picked ahead of Zafar Gohar who is having a fine season. Nauman has 19 wickets this season in eight matches at a ridiculously high average of 49.32.

Zafar has 13 in 3 games at 26.62. He also has experience of playing these English batsmen in county cricket and is far better with the bat in hand as well.

I can understand going for experience but judging from hid present form and his ineptness in Tests this year, Nauman’s inclusion makes no sense.

Zahid has yet to play a Test though has been part of the Test squad since 2021. He has over 150 wickets in First-Class cricket though and over the past few years Pakistan has almost always attacked with leg-spin of Yasir Shah especially on home pitches.

Neither Yasir nor Zahid though has more than 15 wickets this season though Zahid has played less games and Zahid has probably been picked to try him as Yasir didn’t impress on his return against Sri Lanka in the summer.

The one to watch however should be Abrar, the mystery spinner who has wreaked havoc this season with batsmen wondering which way his delivery will turn.

He tops the averages with an astounding 43 wickets in six games at 21.95 and the selectors must be complimented that they could foresee his success when they had included him in the Pakistan T20 squad in September.

Considering the lack of impact by the Pakistani spinners in Tests this year, he should be getting first shot at the Englishmen, traditionally wary of quality spin.

It all depends on how Pakistan is led. Babar remains a conservative captain, liable to let the game drag on and setting traditional fields. He needs to attack more especially as Stokes will and needs to be countered.

The English batters will give chances judging by how they play their game under coach Brendon McCullum. It is up to Babar and the Pakistanis that they take them. More importantly create them.