RAWALPINDI: Australia’s Test captain, Pat Cummins, said on Thursday that his team will try to field two spinners and three fast bowlers in the first Test against Pakistan at the Pindi Stadium on Friday.
He said in an online news conference that two days of research helped Australia decide to play these bowlers in the match.
He did emphasise, though, that this was not the final decision.
Fast bowlers have taken 52 wickets in three Tests played in Rawalpindi since Pakistan was permitted to host matches again in 2019, ten years after a deadly terror attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore. Spinners have taken just 21 wickets.
The stadium’s preparations for tomorrow’s test are underway, although worries persist that the play may be disrupted by rain. On days three, four, and five of the match, Pakistan’s Meteorological Department (PMD) says that rain is likely to fall.
The Met predicts sunny to overcast skies for the opening two days of the five-day match, but mild to moderate rain is possible for the last three days.
Meanwhile, according to Daily Jang, analysts anticipate that spinners will have the upper hand at the Pindi Stadium because of the almost grassless field, while pacers may pick up wickets if they bowl reverse-swing.
