Misbah-ul-Haq open to playing two spinners in Test series against England
Aug 04, 2020
Manchester [UK], Aug 4 : Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq has said that the side is prepared to play two spinners in their playing XI in the upcoming Test series against England.
His remark came as Pakistan gets ready to lock horns with England in the first Test of three-match series on August 5 at Manchester.
"If you want to win a game against a good team then there are challenges always in your way. It's not like you go out and win it with ease. When you are playing in other's conditions, you have to beat them in all departments to win a match," ESPNCricinfo quoted Misbah as saying.
"Obviously our favourite hunting grounds are in London - Lord's and The Oval - but recently at Southampton and Old Trafford, the pitches are showing help for spinners. There is some dryness, like you get when it turns at The Oval, and later on, there is the chance for some reverse swing," he added.
Pakistan had struggled in their last visit to Old Trafford during the 2016 tour as the side just took nine wickets in a 330-run loss with their legspinner Yasir Shah proving especially ineffective.
"The scenario is different now. For spinners, there was absolutely nothing in 2016, but now when we see matches they are totally different and it looks like it's in our favour and we are going to play our chances," Misbah said.
"Our bowlers are in good form and there are encouraging signs but it depends how we play those conditions and how we play the game, and exploit them in our favour," he added.
Pakistan's squad for Test series against England: Azhar Ali (c), Babar Aazam, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Snr, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Yasir Shah and Wahab Riaz.
In September 2019, Riaz had taken an indefinite break from red-ball cricket to focus on the shortest format of the game. Now, he has returned to Pakistan's Test squad.
Meanwhile, the remaining nine players - Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, and Musa Khan - will continue to train with the squad for the T20I series, which will be played after the Test series.
Pakistan and England are slated to play three Tests and three T20Is against each other.
The three-match Test series will be a part of the World Test Championship (WTC).
