The former Austrian batter Mark Waugh has cautioned Australia to expect mixed conditions in Pakistan for their upcoming tour, starting from March 4. Waugh said that pacers can be harmful as spinners.
Australia is in line for the tour of Pakistan after 24 years for three Tests, three ODIs, and a T20I. The first Test of the series starts on March 4 in Rawalpindi.
The 56-year-old Waugh has scored three figures in Test cricket in Pakistan; his third-innings composed of 117 runs have helped Mark Taylor’s led Australian side to draw the third Test in Karachi on the last tour in 1998.
The former Australian batter, in an interview with cricket.com.au, talked about the pitches for a Test series in Pakistan that has traditionally been thrown up.
Waugh has cautioned Australia to expect mixed conditions in Pakistan for their upcoming tour, starting from March 4. Waugh said that pacers can be harmful as spinners.
“I always thought the wickets in Pakistan, they’re not like Indian wickets – they don’t break up, and they’re not as dusty. They don’t have a lot of grass on them but they’re quite hard, and reverse swing is as much, if not more of a danger than spin,”
Waugh said.
“In my era, they had Mushtaq (Ahmed) and Saqlain (Mushtaq), and a few other bits-and-pieces spinners, but I always thought the quick bowlers were equally as dangerous, if not more so, in Pakistan, with reverse swing and pace through the air.”
“So it’s certainly different to India – it’s not as spin-oriented.”
Meanwhile, Waugh believes that Pakistan’s left-arm paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi can be a serious pain for Australia’s left-handers – in particular David Warner – who can have problems with his angle of delivery, pace, and ability to move the ball away.
“I don’t think Warner’s looked quite as comfortable against quick bowling in recent times – Mark Wood unsettled him, and Shaheen Afridi will be a big test for him,”
he said.
“It’s a different angle and for him, it’s a little bit like a right-arm quick coming round the wicket – do you play the ball, or do you leave the ball?
“Generally a right-arm seamer over the wicket is going to angle across the wicket so he’s probably more confident whether to leave or play the ball, but when you’ve got the left-arm from that different angle, he’s probably not as comfortable. Shaheen Afridi’s got the ability to angle in and take the ball away from David Warner, so he does pose that question.
“Then if one goes straight on, he’s bringing bowlers and lbws into play. So it’s a different challenge, definitely.”
