Mohammad Abbas set to be included in Pakistan side for Adelaide day-night Test after horror show in Gabba

The Pakistani team management has been forced to take stringent measures for the upcoming second Test match against Australia to be played as a day-night affair at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide. The home side had beaten the visitors by an innings and 5 runs despite some fight by Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the second innings.

Misbah-ul-Haq, who is the head coach and chief selector of the Pakistani team was criticized for some of his decisions in the first Test at Gabba, Brisbane. The highlighting point was picking an inexperienced bowling attack against a full-strength Australia side.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Imran Khan were the choices for bowlers alongside leg-spinner Yasir Shah. It seems sense has prevailed and the Azhar Ali-led side has made some changes in an effort to put up a fight in the second do of the two-match series which is being played under the ICC Test Championship.

With Mohammad Abbas making a comeback, Azhar Ali drops down the order

Talented fast bowler Mohammad Abbas is set to joining Pakistan playing XI for the second Test match to be played under lights. Also, captain Azhar Ali will be dropping down in the batting order with possibly Imam-Ul-Haq taking his place at the top of the order with Shan Masood. Abbas has taken 66 wickets at just 18.86 in his 14 Tests but was a surprise omission for the opening clash in Brisbane.

“Definitely there will be some changes,” skipper Azhar Ali said during the pre-match press conference and was also quoted as saying “Yes” by Hindustan Times when asked about Abbas’ inclusion. “He’s (Abbas) done well in Test matches, he can definitely bring a lot of control and he has worked a lot since the last Test match on his rhythm and he is feeling better. Obviously, a bowler of his class, you feel he has something to offer,” Ali further added.

Though he didn’t clear which bowler will Abbas replace, Imran Khan is the prime candidate for being dropped from the side. 16-year-old Naseem Shah might also be rested to manage his workload. Azhar Ali is under pressure to give positive results given that Australia has won all of their 5 pink-ball Test matches and the fact that Pakistan has lost all the 13 previous Tests played down under.

“A lot of our tours to Australia we have struggled to pick up wickets. We have to control the rate, bowl in good areas for a long time. Wickets in Australia, a lot of people say it is the bounce, it is pace. But equally it is good for batting as well, so if you can’t bowl well for a long period of time, you can’t put teams under pressure. If we want to pick up 20 wickets we have to execute our plan perfectly,” Azhar concluded.

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