MELBOURNE: Pakistan will hope Shaheen Afridi can find his form and his batting teammates can rebuild confidence in a two-day tour match before trying to salvage the Test series against Australia in Melbourne.
Shan Masood’s side were beaten by 360 runs in their opener in Perth on Sunday, falling to their 15th successive Test on Australian soil.
While the hosts will enjoy an extended break and light preparations before the traditional Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Pakistan will strive to build momentum in a training match against the Victoria squad starting on Friday.
Coach Mohammad Hafeez said that the hastily arranged match was not part of the original schedule and would not be a first-class match, but Pakistan needed extra time in the middle.
Due to his blistering pace and managing just two wickets in Perth, Afridi was outplayed by the spearhead by debutant seamers Khurram Shehzad and Aamer Jamal, who had 12 dismissals between them.
On a treacherous pitch, Pakistani batsmen ended a memorable Test by bowling out 89 runs in their second innings.
“Well, we were not able to execute our skills well,” coach Mohamed Hafeez said.
“We made plans for the team, but unfortunately we couldn’t implement them well. That’s no excuse.
“The guys wanted it, but they never made the effort, to be quite honest.”
Pakistan will be hoping the pitch at Junction Oval will be similar to the one presented at the MCG, having played their first match of the tour on a tepid surface in Canberra – hardly the best setup for Perth’s fast and bouncy wicket.
They are expected to face several experienced Australians in the Test, including Victoria skipper Peter Handscombe, openers Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski.
Pakistan’s selectors may be grateful for the presence of specialist spinners, with none suitable for the Perth Test. Left-arm pacer Nauman Ali is back in the mix after recovering from a cut on his finger.
Without greater contributions from their senior players – including Masood and Babar Azam – Pakistan may struggle to prevent the losing streak from extending to 16 matches in Melbourne, despite all Hafeez’s fighting words.
“I saw during the prep how much talent these guys have,” the coach said.
“There’s no doubt they can beat Australia here in Australia.”
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)