The show must go on, as it did on the opening day of the first Test at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium where Sri Lanka, pushed on the back foot by Pakistan bowlers, struggled to reach 204 after put into bat on a good wicket.

Both Junaid Khan and debutant Bilwal Bhatti bamboozled the Lankans during the afternoon by sharing seven wickets between them after lunch but Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews and the tail-ender Shaminda Eranga put their heads down to frustrate Misbah-ul-Haq’s men and add 61 valuable runs for the ninth wicket before Saeed Ajmal ended their act.

Apprehensions loomed when the Sri Lankans were put into bat and Pakistan bowlers struggled against Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne who put on fifty runs for the first wicket. Even inclusion of Bilwal Bhatti and Ahmed Shehzad had become a point of debate and many believed that spinner Abdur Rehman could have been a better choice and that Shan Masood would have been the right man to open the innings.

But all those arguments were laid to rest after the lunch break when Bhatti picked up three wickets in eight balls to start the rot and open the gate for ever enthusiastic Junaid to dent the late middle-order and bag his fourth haul of five wickets — all of them against the Sri Lankans.

Had the Bhatti-Junaid show come in front of a home crowd in Pakistan, both would have had a standing ovation to acknowledge. Unfortunately, only a handful watched the spirited duo destroy the Sri Lankans. Only if the rest of the Sri Lankan batsmen had offered such resilience and defiance as had Angelo Mathews, their captain who made 91 impressive runs, their innings may have looked much more respectable in the end.

It will be fair to say though that Misbah’s choice of men and his decision to put the opposition in first finally had some justification. Both Bhatti and Junaid bowled a good line after their first spell in which the Sri Lankan openers displayed fine temperament to play some exotic cuts and drives.

It is too early, however, to compare Junaid with other successful left-arm fast bowlers of the recent past or those playing now. After fourteen Tests, he now has a tally of 47 wickets with four five-wicket hauls. His predecessor Wasim Akram had 45 wickets in his first fourteen Tests with four five-wicket hauls as well.

Let us leave it at that because only few in history have had such success at all levels as did Wasim Akram who could be a handful in any situation and on any surface - one of the most feared fast bowlers of his time and perhaps of all time.

To get to that kind of rhythm and reputation Junaid would need to continue with same zest, improving his line and length, fitness and form. What is important for Misbah’s men now is to compliment their bowlers’ effort with some determined performance with the bat to first take a sizeable lead and then allow Junaid and Company to have a go for the second time to greet the New Year with an emphatic win.