“The one thing Yasir does well is he doesn’t bowl many bad balls, which is the skill of a great spinner; the number of wickets he has taken in his first 13 Tests is up there with the greats”.
Advertisement
Spinners are in the spotlight because Pakistan’s mystery man, Yasir Shah, took ten wickets in his team’s victory in the First Test at Lord’s.
“The medical report was 50-50, so he was left out”, said 31-year-old Cook.
It also has to decide whether to give a home debut to leg-spinner Adil Rashid, either in support of, or as a replacement for, Moeen Ali.
At 42 years of age, Misbah-ul-haq is still leading from the front as Pakistan completed a historic win at the Lord’s.
“We’ve got to go out there and put the record straight”.
Opting to bat first, Pakistan captain Misbah Ul-Haq was magnificent in his pursuit of runs, scoring a magnificent century to help his side to 339 all out, with Chris Woakes taking his maiden test match five-fer.
“The series is not yet over they are still three more Tests to go and I am just more confident now that we can keep going well”, he added.
Misbah, who became the oldest player in 82 years to score a century at Lord’s, also heaped praise on his players for showing bravery and producing good results despite lack of global cricket in the country.
“The 11 players were disappointed. we didn’t do ourselves justice”, said Cook. “You’ve got to use the knowledge of the people you’re lucky enough to have come in and work with you”, he said.
Fit-again Stokes looks set to return to the starting lineup for the second test at Old Trafford, starting on Friday, after undergoing a knee operation in May, but he said it might take time to regain his competitive edge.
Misbah marked his maiden Test appearance at “the home of cricket” with a first-innings century.
Both Hafeez and fellow opener Shan Masood struggled against the new ball at Lord’s, with Hafeez’s first-innings 40 the pair’s top score.
“When he bowls bad balls you have to cash in and he is obviously the linchpin of their bowling attack”. They are two very fine cricketers [and]. will add to the England attack and overall composition of the side.
“He has been hired for this Test but I think the greatest short-term benefit may lie in him giving tips to their batsmen about how to play spin”, Yousuf said.
Advertisement
“Maybe in some of those shots we didn’t get that balance right”.
