LAHORE: For former Pakistan wicket-keeper Wasim Bari, the youthful Pakistan side will have an opportunity to prove itself as a mature unit when they take on the experienced England team in the first of their two Tests at the Lord’s Cricket Ground on Thursday.

Bari, who played for the national side in 81 Tests, believed the testing England conditions will give precious exposure and experience to the young Pakistan squad.

Bari said Pakistan will be heavily dependent on the performances of their top five batsmen.

“If Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam and Sarfraz Ahmad succeed in putting a hefty total on the scoreboard the Pakistan bowlers have the abilities to turn the Test series in their favour quite easily,” Bari told Dawn. “The good performance of the batsmen will also decrease the pressure on the bowlers to bowl out England batsmen quickly.”

He said Faheem Ashraf, with his batting abilities he displayed the one-off Test match against Ireland, proved he was a reliable all-rounder. But he advised pacer Hasan Ali not to bowl short pitch deliveries but to bring the ball up on the batsmen.

He also advised leg-spinner Shadab Khan to bowl carefully at Lord’s considering the slope in the pitches at the venue which makes it difficult for the bowlers to keep the line and length right.

“It will be a Test for Shadab Khan how he deal with this challenge since he is playing first Test on this surface,” Bari said.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2018