On the other hand, spinner Adil Rashid is making his Test debut for England.
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The “hosts” are unbeaten in seven series here since 2010/11, and trounced England 3-0 when they ventured into the desert for the first time the following winter.
Pakistan were hoping that that Ali would have recovered from the injury after he missed out on playing the last ODI match against Zimbabwe. It’s a tough art to master, but he’s got well over 300, 400 first-class wickets, so he can definitely bowl.
While the form of Jos Buttler has been less than average with the bat he will have Jonny Bairstow waiting for a chance to seize an opportunity that only months ago didn’t look likely. “Zulfiqar and the fast bowlers will play a key role because of the reverse swing, especially with the new ball”.
“We’ll monitor him over the next bit of time – and hope he’s right for the second Test”.
“He can bowl a few absolute jaffers and is a wicket-taking threat”, Cook said of the leg spinner.
They said that they will make a combination which will be beneficial for the England team.
“We will wait on a final decision on Yasir on the morning of the first Test but judging by his current condition, his participation is highly unlikely”, Misbah told reporters during a pre-match press conference.
“Yes, we’ve got to play a few fantastic cricket over the next 15 days to put Pakistan under pressure, we realise that”.
The 29-year-old leg-spinner has only recently cemented his place in the national side, having spent most of his early career in the shadow of Saeed Ajmal.
Alastair Cook: It’s a challenge now (bowling first) but we’re going to play a few good cricket.
“You can lose games of cricket in a short space of time”. However, in facing Pakistan in their “home” of the United Arab Emirates, the onus is once again on Cook’s team to prove the doubters wrong.
Yasir Shah may become the latest casualty in Pakistan’s horrid build-up to the first England Test after the legspinner suffered a back injury during training on the eve of the Abu Dhabi match.
England’s task may be lightened if Yasir is unfit.
The promotion saw immediate success, as he hit scores of 53 and 65 not out in the Edgbaston Test, but then he managed only 24 more runs in his next three knocks.
But Cook will not be sidetracked by issues beyond his control. “As always, the day before a big series, we’re concentrating on matters which are important to us”, he said. “He is clearly a fantastic bowler who not many of us have faced”.
England bowling spearhead, James Anderson, seemed relieved at the news of Ali’s absence.
With the Test pitches expected to take lots of spin, there was great encouragement from the showings of legspinner Adil Rashid, who took 3-53, and left-arm spinner Samit Patel, who picked up 2-31.
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Umpires: B Oxenford (Aus) and P Reiffel (Aus).
