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RAWALPINDI: Interim red-ball head coach Azhar Mahmood has hailed South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj as a world-class spinner, emphasizing that his return will bring significant challenges for Pakistan.
Keshav Maharaj will make his return to the side after missing out in the first Test, and he will pose a threat to Pakistan batters; however, Mahmood braces for better execution and decision-making in the match.
“We’re playing against the best team and they’re obviously not going to take this lightly, they’ll give it their all to comeback; they were relying heavily on one of their spinners [Keshav Maharaj], who’s one of the best in the world. It’ll bring a lot of challenges for us.”
“We know what challenges will come, and we need to see how to tackle those. On the day, it’s all about execution and making the right decision when you bat, bowl, or field,” Azhar told reporters in a pre-match press conference.
Azhar emphasized a dry Pindi pitch and hinted that the playing XI will be tweaked according to the surface.
“We will decide tomorrow morning about the playing XI. Currently, the pitch is looking on the dryer side, and there is a possibility of changes, “but not too many,” he remarked.
“It’s possible we go with a 3-1 combination [three spinners and one pacer], but it hasn’t been decided yet,” he said.
“With regards to the toss, we don’t want that the whole match is decided by the toss. Even, if we lose the toss, our aim is that even if we lose the toss, we try to make 350 (runs) in the first innings,” he continued.
Azhar Mahmood also termed the process as key for winning the World Test Championship (WTC), stating that the players’ confidence is on the higher side.
“Obviously, we need to go step by step to reach there — you need to play in conditions abroad, play in the West Indies, Bangladesh, and England. So the process that I keep talking about, we need to take the matches one by one. With Test matches, we’ll take it session by session.
“This team has been playing for quite some time now, the boys’ morale is quite high, they knew it was important to win the match, and you saw the effort they put in. They’re confident, and they’re all getting along well and playing together. This is what a team needs to build up,” he concluded.
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