CHENNAI: If ever there was a side that used to be a scourge for spinners, it used to be Pakistan. Generations of Indian spinners — from Bishan Bedi to Maninder Singh to Harbhajan Singh — will have their stories of hard times against the likes of Zaheer Abbas, Salim Malik or Misbah-ul-Haq. But all that seems a thing of the past as in two back-to-back games in the World Cup, we have seen Pakistan falling against spinners.
While against India it was Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja, it was Adam Zampa who snatched life out of the Pakistan chase in Bengaluru. Now in Chennai, struggling to stay alive in the World Cup, they will have a trial by spin against the likes of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi, and maybe Noor Ahmed.
It is the inability of the Pakistan batters to increase the tempo in the middle-overs that has left everyone surprised. But Imam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan opener who will have a key role to play on Monday, doesn’t read too much into it.
“Maybe we want to eat more proteins and not that much carbs,” he quipped, adding that they are not worried about the fact that fours and sixes have dried up against quality spinners on slightly conducive tracks.
“In the last two matches we didn’t play well, and we accept that. But it’s just that we still have five matches and it will all be about how we prepare for that,” Imam said.
On Sunday, their preparatory session against spin was intense. Mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed, who is travelling with the team, had a long bowling session against all the Pakistan batters as the pacers were asked to take a break after some initial practice.
The likes of Mohammed Rizwan spent a bit of time trying to perfect the sweep shot and the idea, quite clearly, was to get ready for the bowling of Rashid and Mujeeb, who bowl slightly faster through the air.
Local chinaman Ashwin, along with a few other Chennai spinners were called up in the net so that the batters are ready for a serious interrogation on Monday.
While playing spin is an issue for Pakistan, their spin department, too, has left a lot to be desired. Senior leggie Shadab Khan lost his place in the team, but those following the team insist that the senior bowler is likely to be back for this game, replacing Usama Mir.
“Shadab’s experience will be key on a pitch like this,” a source said, though Imam didn’t specify the likely XI.
(AI image)
