“Yasir’s injury is a concern and could be a jolt”, skipper Misbah-ul-Haq told a press conference on Monday.
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The greed that sees administrators around the world cram in as much global cricket as possible has led to hopelessly inadequate preparation for an England team who will go into Tuesday’s first Test with just four days of farcical “match” practice behind them. The chief destroyer during that series was Saeed Ajmal, who this time around is not employed as he continues to search for his technical skills that have deserted him since his forced remodelling.
Pakistan have called up left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar, who played against England in their two warm-up matches last week.
Pakistan are already without key batsman Azhar Ali, ruled out of the match with a foot infection.
England have traditionally struggled to come to terms with conditions in the sub-continent, but Root is confident the current squad can cope in this three match series.
Pakistan’s batting will revolve around Younis Khan, Misbah and Sarfraz Ahmed, who have been in great form in the last 12 months. But against Pakistan England soon came back to earth after losing all three Tests.
Former England spinner Vic Marks wrote in the Guardian, “In many ways Shah is an old-fashioned, classical bowler”.
“I can understand people saying he’s not the answer, he’s a short-term fix, but I think that’s where England are at”, Vaughan said. “It’s also about our fast bowlers and the way we bat against their spinners”.
Instead, he was left cruelly on the sidelines from a problem he first felt during action last Friday when taking 4-15 in a hostile spell of bowling against Pakistan A.
But despite Pakistan’s overwhelming favouritism to extend their unbeaten run, Botham insists Alastair Cook’s improving side can cause an upset. “Of course it would be a loss for them”. It could be a big blow for us.
“You can lose games of cricket in a short space of time, but you have to do a lot of good work over a long period to win games, and the guys are prepared for that”. “He’s made huge strides back to where we would like him to be”. Pakistan, in contrast, will back themselves against the basically bare England spin cupboard.
More immediately, he is hoping Moeen trusts his attacking instincts if handed an assignment to which he is unaccustomed, having never before opened in first-class cricket. If that happens, Ali will be Cook’s seventh partner since Andrew Strauss retired in 2012.
The all-rounder has established himself in the England side since making his Test debut previous year, but has become accustomed to coming in down the order.
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The first test starts on Tuesday at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi followed by matches in Dubai (October 22-26) and Sharjah (November 1-5).
