LAHORE: Former Test fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has suggested Pakistan to play with three spinners and also decide to bat first on winning the toss in the second Test against South Africa starting in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

The Babar Azam-captained Pakistan lead the two-game rubber after winning the first Test by seven wickets at the National Stadium, Karachi last Friday.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday, Sarfraz reca­lled that Pakistan in the first Test fielded three fast bowlers and two spinners with little success for their pacers.

The Pakistan pacers took only six wickets in the Karachi Test match.

“The wicket prepared for the [second] Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium will also support spinners so Pakistan should add off-spinner Sajid Khan to further strengthen the spin department,” the 72-year-old former paceman said.

In the first Test, the South African batsmen could not play with authority against debutant left-arm spinner Nauman Ali and experienced leg-spinner Yasir Shah who equally shared 14 wickets between them in Pakistan’s victory.

“The reports I have received from Rawalpindi indicate that there will be slow bounce on the wicket which will give some time to batsmen to play the ball with relative ease, unlike Karachi where the ball was spinning sharply,” Sarfraz, a 55-Test veteran, noted.

“But as the South African batsmen are vulnerable to spinners, a third spinner in Sajid can pose a major threat for the tourists and Pakistan can win the second Test too.”

In the first Test, Sarfraz added, all fast bowlers -- Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf -- failed to disturb the batsmen. “Therefore, playing again with three fast bowlers would be a futile exercise.”

Sarfraz further said that Pakistan, on winning the toss, should bat first.

“If our batsmen post a decent total, the job of our spinners-led attack would become easier in putting South Africa under pressure,” he said.

Captain Babar Azam, Sarfraz emphasised, should lead from the front as he held the major responsibility in building the Pakistan innings.

“Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam and Mohammad Rizwan should continue their form which they displayed in the first Test,” the ex-fast bowler added.

Meanwhile, Sarfraz backed former Pakistan captain and his colleague Asif Iqbal’s view on the umpire referrals,

saying the ball hitting the stumps should be given out irrespective of the margin with which the ball makes contact with the stumps.

“It does not make sense that if the ball hits the stump slightly it will not remove the bails,” Sarfraz said.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2021