For a good seven years, Pakistan dominated Test cricket in the UAE. From the time they have adopted the country as the venue for their ‘home’ cricket till Sarfraz Ahmed’s accession to Test captaincy, Pakistan had won 13 and lost only four out of the 24 matches they played without losing a series. But, since Sarfraz has taken up captaincy, that has changed.Under him, Pakistan are yet to win a Test in the UAE. Last year, they were whitewashed 0-2 by Sri Lanka, in what was Sarfraz’s first-ever captaincy assignment in this format. When Pakistan turn out against Australia in the second and last Test at Abu Dhabi, it will be the fourth time Sarfraz will lead his side in whites in the UAE. Pakistan have thus far enjoyed a prolific record at Abu Dhabi as their win/loss ratio stands at 5:1 with five wins and a solitary defeat against Sri Lanka in 2017.
Pakistan came close to winning the Dubai Test as Yasir Shah picked up three quick wickets in the last hour of play. They dominated the match for four and a half days. But rearguard efforts from Australian captain Tim Paine and Nathan Lyon, after Usman Khawaja’s fantastic hundred, helped the visitors register one of the most epic draws in the history of the game. Sarfraz, however, is hopeful that his players will recapitulate the previous Test and this time take their side over the line.
“As a captain, I am confident of winning this Test match,” Sarfraz said on the eve of the second Test. “As a captain, I am proud how my team responded in the first match. Things went well for us for four and a half days but unfortunately we couldn’t win the match. Credit goes to Australia. They fought really hard on the last day. But, the way we played the first Test match, I am very proud of my team.
“There’s no such fear [of losing]. The morale in the camp is high. All of our batsmen scored runs. Bowlers put up good performances. We have a good opportunity to perform well in this Test match and win the series.”
Pakistan missed chances to make inroads that saw a certain victory go down as a draw. Sarfraz missed stumping chances on a couple of occasions. The fielding placements and bowling changes raised eyebrows. But, Pakistan’s inability to use reviews effectively raised glaring questions about the team’s on-field application. During the first Australian innings, a replay revealed that Khawaja had edged a ball on his pad that was taken by forward short-leg but Pakistan did not take a review for it after umpire had turned it down.
“There are a lot of things that need to be taken into consideration while you are going for a review,” Sarfraz said. “We have only 15 seconds to make the call. So, I guess, some margin of error needs to be given for an error of judgement. Umpire’s call play a huge role when a review is taken. If it is given out and the review shows the ball clipping the bails, it is adjudged out. But, when it is not out, if the impact is minutely outside the line it will be given not out.
“When it is LBW, it is usually the wicketkeeper and the bowler. But, the fielders in front of the batsman also play a role when it comes to reviewing a decision. Like, it happened in Mitch Marsh’s case. After the umpire had missed that the ball clipped the pad first, it was our guy at the mid-on who thought that the ball had hit the pad first.”
Since taking the charge of the Test side, Sarfraz has scored only one fifty. In the 10 innings, he averages only 19.30 which puts him under scanner. Naturally, there were questions about his own run with the bat. Sarfraz realises that he needs to score.
“I am concentrating on my batting and I working hard in the nets. Whenever I get an opportunity to play a big innings for the team, I will grab it.”
Pakistan have made two changes in the 12-man lineup ahead of the second Test. They have included Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan in the places of an injured Imam ul Haq and Wahab Riaz. Zaman is set to make his Test debut.
“Fakhar was brought in so he can score quick runs,” Sarfraz said. “Teams around the world are now including batsmen who can score quickly in a Test match, especially in conditions such as here. We scored at a healthy rate throughout the first two sessions [of the first Test] and scored almost 200 runs. But, we lost two quick wickets and from there we had to rebuild our innings again. It is important for us to score at around 3-3.5 an over as if you don’t do it then you go almost a day behind in a Test match.”
