Match facts
September 10-14, 2013Start time 1000 local (0800 GMT)
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Big Picture
In March this year, Zimbabwe arrived in the West Indies absolutely
undercooked. Their only internationals in the previous 12 months: two
Twenty20s in Hambantota. The two Tests in Barbados and Dominica lasted
five days in all. They barely avoided losing by an innings in the first,
but succumbed to the ignominy in the second.
Six months later, in what has been a hectic year compared to the famine
of 2012, they took a sizeable first-innings lead against Pakistan, and
had them effectively 91 for 5 in the second. Then Younis Khan decided to
restore order, and Zimbabwe went through one of their capitulations in
the fourth innings. The first Test
in Harare will become another addition to the long list of heavy
Zimbabwe defeats, completely obfuscating their dominance over the
initial three days. The scorecard of the Barbados Test
says West Indies won by nine wickets but a closer look reveals Zimbabwe
had a chance of taking the lead then too, having reduced the hosts to
151 for 6 in response to 211.
With utmost justification, Zimbabwe keep clamouring for more cricket.
Amid a crippling monetary crisis, they have managed to squeeze in six
Tests, 14 ODIs and six T20s this year. The numbers would have been
higher had the shortage of funds not caused the postponement of Sri
Lanka's visit. While there was the embarrassment of a 0-5 defeat against
a second-string India side, there was also the ODI win over Pakistan,
followed by the unexpectedly competitive performance in the first Test.
It is a hopeless situation to be in. Very few tours to high-ranked
nations because they do not see much value in playing you. Few incoming
trips because your board does not have the money to arrange more. How do
you improve? A glance at the FTP provides little hope in the near
future. The second Test against Pakistan will be Zimbabwe's last
international match before the World Twenty20 in March. Can they make a
final, bigger statement of promise?
It will not be easy. Pakistan were playing their first Test in more than
six months last week. Misbah-ul-Haq warned after the game that his team
could not afford to start slowly repeatedly. Complacency, if there was
any among the new arrivals for the Tests, will not be there this time.
Form guide
Pakistan WLLLD (last five matches, most recent first)Zimbabwe LLWLL
Watch out for
Zimbabwe lost 15 wickets to Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman in the first
Test. Their batsmen are not accustomed to facing high-quality spinners,
and there is no shame in failing to tackle Ajmal when better sides have
struggled to. But before this series, Zimbabwe were confounded by Amit
Mishra. In West Indies, they lost 29 of 40 wickets to Shane Shillingford
and Marlon Samuels.
It is only going to get tougher. The Harare square has taken such a battering this season there are concerns
over how the pitch will behave, with Hamilton Masakadza expecting a lot
more help for spin. Although it has been kept covered to try and retain
whatever moisture there is, less than three days is hardly any time to
prepare a Test surface, let alone on a ground which has seen so much
cricket in recent months. Junaid Khan and Co can be counted on, but
again, the real test for the Zimbabwe batsmen will be the Pakistan spinners.
Mohammad Hafeez averages 8.00 with the bat in Tests, all outside
Asia, this year. He had two productive years after almost a decade of
disappointment but questions are now being asked whether he fits in as
opener in a format where he is not needed too much as a bowler. He
remains important in limited-overs but he'll be 33 in October, and even
if persisted with for a while, is certainly not a long-term option.
Which also means he will have to come good quickly, and often.
Team news
The one change Pakistan could make is to bring in the quicker Wahab Riaz
in place of Rahat Ali, who took 1 for 105 in the first Test. Mohammad
Hafeez ran gingerly between the wickets last week, after straining his
hamstring in the third ODI. However, Misbah has claimed that Pakistan's
T20 captain is fit.
Pakistan (probable) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Khurram Manzoor, 3 Azhar
Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Adnan
Akmal (wk), 8 Wahab Riaz/Rahat Ali, 9 Saeed Ajmal, 10 Junaid Khan, 11
Abdur Rehman
Brendan Taylor will return to lead Zimbabwe after missing the first Test
to be with his fiancee and newborn son but has said he will not keep
wicket. It is not often that Zimbabwe have to fret over who to leave
out. Sikandar Raza was handed a Test debut after Taylor decided to sit
out last week, and looks the most likely candidate to be omitted,
although that is no justice for a man who made 60 and 24.
Zimbabwe will decide in the morning whether to play a second spinner. If
they do, it will mean a Test debut for young legspinner Natsai
M'shangwe but they will have a hard time deciding which fast bowler to
leave out, as all performed manfully in the first Test. In fact, they
carried such a heavy workload - 161.1 overs - that Hamilton Masakadza
joked they needed "bed rest and maybe a drip". Brian Vitori could be
called upon if one of them fails to recover.
Zimbabwe (probable) 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Tino Mawoyo, 3 Hamilton
Masakadza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt), 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Elton
Chigumbura, 7 Richmond Mutumbami (wk), 8 Prosper Utseya, 9,10 & 11
Three out of Tinashe Panyangara/Shingi Masakadza/Tendai Chatara/Natsai
M'shangwe/Brian Vitori
Stats and trivia
- Younis Khan is 48 short of becoming the fourth Pakistan batsman to reach 7000 Test runs, after Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf
- This will be the 12th international game this year at Harare Sports Club, easily the most matches at a ground
Quotes
"We can learn from their mental awareness and the way they switched on
and off at different times in the game. We were on top of them for
three-and-half days but their two best performers made it tough for us.
If we can just switch on at the right times, we could do better."
Brendan Taylor on what Zimbabwe can pick up from Pakistan
Brendan Taylor on what Zimbabwe can pick up from Pakistan
Abhishek Purohit is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Abhishek Purohit
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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