ABU DHABI: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq will seek consistency while his counterpart Australia’s Michael Clarke will look for runs in the second Test starting here from Thursday.

Pakistan humiliated Australia by a big 221-run margin in the first Test in Dubai and now seek their first series win over Australia for 20 years.

Misbah, however, was concerned with the lack of consistency of his team, regarded as the most unpredictable in the world.

“The complaint people have with us is that we don’t play consistent cricket so we have to focus on consistent performance in this match,” the veteran Pakistan captain said on Wednesday.

Misbah said it will be important to win the series against Australia.

“It will be very important because we have not won a series against Australia for a long time, we have a very good chance to win and that can win back the confidence,” he said.

“I think credit must be given to the bowlers that they did not make us feel Saeed Ajmal’s absence,” said Misbah of the off-spinner, suspended last month over an illegal action.

Misbah said the pitch at Sheikh Zayed Stadium will also suit his team.

“This pitch looks a bit different, it’s normally different from the Dubai pitch because it’s harder and has pace and bounce, but it looks good and if we look at our strength then it looks good for us,” he added.

Clarke refused to accept there was extra pressure on him for not scoring runs in the first Test.

“It doesn’t feel any different to any other Test match to me. My expectations are always very high for myself personally to make sure I’m scoring runs and for this Australian team to have success,” the Australian skipper, who managed just two and three in the Dubai Test, remarked.

“I don’t feel any more expectation or any more pressure. It’s about playing our best cricket over five days and if we do that I’m confident we can win the Test match.”

Clarke said he was ready to take risks. “Sometimes you’ve got to be willing to risk losing to win. We have to win this Test match to level the series. If that’s not the case and we draw the Test match or we lose, we’ll deal with that as well.”

Clarke hoped his team show the necessary attitude to cope with the spin, their main weakness in Asia.

“Facing spin in these conditions, it’s as much about your attitude as it is how you actually play it. Mentally if we can have that positive intent, we’re halfway there towards having success against spin bowling,” he said.

The world No 2 team were all at sea against an inexperienced but effective Pakistan spin attack in Dubai. It was their fifth consecutive flop against spinners in Asia after being routed 4-0 in India last year.

Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar, playing only his third Test, finished with seven wickets in the match as did debutant leggie Yasir Shah.

Pakistan’s batsmen also had a field day. Veteran Younis Khan scored a century in each innings while Sarfraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad chipped in with hundreds.

Australia’s top order of David Warner, who hit a hundred in the first Test, and Chris Rogers were steady. But the middle order, especially Clarke and Alex Doolan, failed in both innings.

Australia have the option of bringing in Glenn Maxwell, who can also bowl off-spin, for either Mitchell Marsh or Doolan.

If Pakistan win 2-0 they will jump to No 3 in the Test rankings, and Misbah called this a strong incentive.

“I think if we fulfil the basic roles in a better manner then (a) good result will come and it will be good if we achieve that position in [the] rankings,” said Misbah, who with victory would equal Imran Khan and Javed Miandad’s record of most Test wins of 14.

Teams (from):

PAKISTAN: Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Talha, Ehsan Adil, Taufiq Umar, Shan Masood.

AUSTRALIA: David Warner, Chris Rogers, Phillip Hughes, Michael Clarke (captain), Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Steve O’Keefe, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Faulkner, Nathan Lyon, Alex Doolan.

Umpires: Richard Kettleborough and Nigel Llong (both England).

TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (South Africa).

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

Published in Dawn, October 30th , 2014