The first hurdle for the Pakistanis on this challenging tour of South Africa will be to adjust themselves on the hard and bouncy pitches — which is what professionalism is all about.
Whether it is a bouncy track, a seaming one, spinning or double-pace, a good batsman should perform in any condition. Gone are the days when batsmen used to hide behind excuses like weather, pitch and umpiring for their failure.
Pakistan’s recent victories have all come in almost similar conditions like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Sri Lanka and India. South Africa, however, offers a considerably sterner challenge for the tourists, especially keeping in mind the current form of the Proteas who are ranked as top team in the world, and the fact that they will be playing in their own backyard
When Misbah-ul-Haq’s men whitewashed England 3-0 in the UAE in Tests, it was mainly due to some magnificent bowling by wily spin twins Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rehman.
And yet, it was a different story in ODI and T20 matches that followed as England batsmen countered the Ajmal-Rahman duo by cleverly changing their strategy. Rather than playing the lethal Pakistan spinners from within the crease, Andrew Strauss and company frequently used their feet to nullify the threat, especially left-handers in the English side.
One is also reminded of the great Michael Hussey blitz in World T20 semis that took the game away from Pakistan in Ajmal’s last over and the recent onslaught by India’s Yuvraj Singh against the same bowler.
In that backdrop, I will suggest that Ajmal bowls over the wicket to the left-handers in South Africa including their tail-enders.
When he bowls round-the-wicket to left-handers, Ajmal’s ‘doosra’ becomes simple off-spin for them and they are able to play it with ease.
If we compare the batting line-ups of both the teams, the hosts clearly have an edge due to their top five experienced players including Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacque Kallis, A.B De Villiers and Alviro Peterson.
In contrast, the Pakistan batting revolves around Mohammed Hafeez, Younis Khan and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq backed by talented but inexperienced Nasir Jamshed, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Haris Sohail who are yet to be fully tested in world cricket.
But yes, Pakistan has a definite edge over South Africa in the spin department as we have the services of world’s best spinners in Ajmal, Rehman and Hafeez who are capable of running through any top-class side and are sure to trouble the South African batsmen in the three-Test series.
In comparison, South Africa entirely relies on its fearsome pace attack spearheaded by the world’s best bowler Dale Steyn and well supported by tall Morne Morkel and lethal Vernon Philander who has terrorised the best of the batsmen in recent months with his nagging length and swing.
Pakistani-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who has been inducted into the SA squad at the last minute due to an injury to left-arm spinner Robin Peterson, is unlikely to pose much problems to our players due to lack of variety in his bowling.
I must admit here that I am eager to watch beanpole pacer Mohammad Irfan in action at Johannesburg and other venues which are known to be bouncy tracks. However, Irfan must carefully guard against any injury in the series because his previous record shows that he is prone to breaking down in key matches.
Much is also expected of the ever-improving Junaid Khan and workhorse Umar Gul and if they are firing on all cylinders, Pakistan can really make it a contest.
It will be gross injustice on my part not to praise skipper Misbah and team manager Naved Akram Cheema for their mature, even-handed approach in dealing with the players tour after tour.
It has been a most difficult task for them, I am sure, but they have done their job impeccably to guide the team to several fine victories and, more importantly, keeping the unwanted controversies at bay.
And lastly, my humble advice to the management committee is to always field your best eleven in every match which is key to any team’s performance.
I wish all the best to our team for the tough assignment ahead and would like to tell them that they will have nothing to fear if they have the concentration and application of a Hanif Mohammad and the determination and never-say-die attitude of an Imran Khan.
The writer is a former Test cricketer and chief selector
