Pakistan men’s cricket team will field an all-pace attack only for the second time in a home Test match in 28 years during the upcoming Rawalpindi Test against Bangladesh, scheduled to commence on August 21.
Earlier today, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed releasing sole specialist spinner Abrar Ahmed from their squad for the opening Test against Bangladesh and also that the home team will field an all-pace attack.
“The decision has been made after the selectors have opted to go with an all-pace attack in the first ICC World Test Championship match against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, 21 August,” said PCB in a statement.
“Instead of benching him for the Test, the selectors named him in the Shaheens squad so that he can gain some match practice ahead of the second Test, which will start in Karachi on 30 August.”
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Abrar’s exclusion means Pakistan will go with an all-pace attack only for the second time in a home Test, including their United Arab Emirates’ stint, since September 1995 when they hosted Sri Lanka.
The only such instance during the period was when Pakistan rested their then key spinner, Yasir Shah, from the Playing XI for the opening match of the series against Sri Lanka in 2019 at the same venue.
The reason behind Pakistan going with an all-pace attack is that the Pindi Cricket Stadium pitch is assumed to have some patches of grass and will support pace and bounce.
As a result, the responsibility of providing a spin option now lies only on Salman Ali Agha, who in his last six Tests, has bowled an average of 12 overs per innings and twice bowled more than 20 overs.
“You can look into whatever you want. But to start, I think we’ve got two special spinners. Salman Ali Agha is good enough to be classified as a specialist spinner,” said Pakistan Test head coach Jason Gillespie during PCB Podcast last week.
READ: Abrar Ahmed released from Pakistan squad for first Bangladesh Test