KARACHI: After a nightmarish series against Australia 12 years ago, recalled Pakistan batsman Taufiq Umar is determined to prove his worth as a dogged opener in the upcoming two-match Test series against Michael Clarke’s side in the UAE.

Taufiq, the 33-year-old left-hander, was named in a 16-man squad which the national selection committee, led by Moin Khan, finalised late on Saturday for the Tests at Dubai (Oct 22-26) and Abu Dhabi (Oct 31-Nov 4). He would be competing alongside Mohammad Hafeez and fellow left-hander Shan Masood for the right to partner Ahmed Shehzad.

In an exclusive interview, Taufiq told Dawn from Dubai on Sunday that he was a relieved man to be given a long-awaited opportunity after having been on the sidelines since the ill-fated tour of South Africa last year when he was forced to return home before the series commenced with a leg injury after having appeared in a Test last in July 2012 against Sri Lanka at Pallekele.

“Obviously it was a period where I felt gutted. The frustration of not being able to get selected after the South Africa tour was extremely annoying because I was left out [from the team] for reasons that were never explained to me to be honest,” Taufiq said. “But I’m sure the coming couple of weeks would be fruitful for me. It won’t be a cakewalk to start with, but at least I know that there is an opening for me to get back into the groove of Test cricket.”

Taufiq, who has scored seven centuries in a tally of 2943 runs in 43 Tests with a highest of 236 against Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi in October 2011, recalled his only confrontation with the Australians in October 2002 when he was a member of the Waqar Younis-led national team that was whitewashed in the series in which he mustered just 94 runs, including 88 in the second innings of the first Test at Colombo’s P. Sara Oval.

“Yeah it was very tough series for all of us. And yet we nearly won the opening Test in Sri Lanka when Australia finally got home with something like 40-odd runs [41 to be exact] margin. I hardly got going barring one decent contribution,” Taufiq remembered. “I got a pair in the second Test in Sharjah and had two more failures in the last Test [in Sharjah] as well. It was a chastening experience to face such wonderful bowlers as [Glenn] McGrath, [Jason] Gillespie, Brett Lee and [Shane] Warne.”

Pakistan were shot out for 59 and 53 in the second Test to hand Steve Waugh’s team a resounding innings and 198-run victory before they crashed to another heavy defeat in the last one by innings and 20 runs.

Taufiq opening admitted that it is always difficult for any player to get used to the environment of international cricket. “I would be lying if I claim that the transition is easy from moving one form to another. Generally the situation and demands of Test cricket is very high. A mistake here and there and you are gone for forever.

“There is a lot of competition out there [for places] in every sport team. If a guy is picked again after a considerable period in the wilderness he has got to show and prove many people that he is worth it. Injustices done to you in the past have to be tolerated but it is the individual himself who has got to perform after all.

“I won’t say that at the moment I have got this ‘over the moon’ feeling inside me. But I’m grateful to the selectors for providing me a chance to play international cricket. There are many people who kept on comforting me even when I was out of the Pakistan team,” the soft-spoken Taufiq remarked.

Taufiq sounded philosophical about the upcoming Tests and said Pakistan should take the field with renewed determination without being intimidated by the Australian players.

“Traditionally, Australia play hard cricket and always try to intimidate the opposing team. We should just ignore them and concentrate on our own game to compete with them on an equal footing as much as possible,” he observed.

“They got one of the most feared bowlers in Mitchell Johnson. He can be a handful on any surface but if we try to treat him like any other bowler and play him on merit then we should be okay. In the recent times he has been the key to Australia’s success and we should just respect this aspect.

“Of course it easier said than done but we mustn’t lose our focus on the job on hand and maximum our resources. Saeed Ajmal would be definitely missed but that is something beyond our control at the moment,” Taufiq said. “As for myself I am eagerly looking forward to make up for those failures against Australia [his only Tests against them] long time back and set the record straight.”

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2014