Rehman set to replace Ajmal on varying decks
Will spin be a factor in the UAE?
With Pakistan’s leading spinner Saeed Ajmal almost certain to miss next month’s Test series against Australia in the United Arab Emirates, the slow bowling duties now fall to left-arm orthodox bowler Abdur Rehman.
Ajmal was yesterday banned from international cricket with immediate effect after the International Cricket Council’s independent review found all his deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations.
Quick Single: Ajmal banned for illegal action
The 36-year-old off-spinner can apply for a re-assessment once his action has been modified, but the lengthy appeal process is likely to see him miss the two-Test series against Australia starting October 22.
Pakistan would have banked on Ajmal leading the attack in the UAE, but without their premier tweaker, Rehman will have to shoulder the spinning workload.
Rehman has played 22 Tests since debuting in 2007, taking 99 wickets at an average of 29.39 and a strike rate of 69.6, but in the past two years the 34-year-old has only played five matches and taken 18 wickets, with nine scalps coming against ninth-ranked Test nation Zimbabwe.
Pakistan Test spinners in past two years
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Despite his omission from Pakistan’s recent Test tour of Sri Lanka, batting allrounder Mohammed Hafeez looms as Ajmal’s replacement, with his right-arm off-breaks set to complement Rehman’s left-arm approach.
However, Hafeez’s two Tests against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi and Dubai – the two Test venues against Australia – in January this year yielded just the solitary wicket while batting at first drop.
Interestingly, that series featured five genuine fast bowlers, with Pakistan selecting three pacemen and Sri Lanka playing two spinners and two quicks along with the medium pace of captain Angelo Matthews.
Australia has selected just the three specialist fast bowlers for the Test tour in Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc, and will be supported by allrounders Shane Watson and Mitchell Marsh and spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe.
Cricket Australia chairman of selectors Rod Marsh said on Monday he expects fast bowling to play a part in the series on a variety of wickets.
“There’s a possibility that all three grounds we play at will be very different,” said Marsh.
“I lived over there for a while. Sharjah, to me, always seems pretty flat.
“It doesn’t bounce much and I think it’s a pretty good batting pitch. I don’t think it will help the fast bowlers much but it may reverse swing.
“Dubai can be quite quick and bouncy. The Australian curator there, Tony Hemming, he likes to see the ball fly, but whether or not he has to hand that pitch over to a Pakistani curator – in the past he’s had to hand over two weeks before – whether or not he has to do it this time I’m not sure.
“If Tony had his way it would be a very fast and bouncy pitch. It’s got that capability.
“And the one at Abu Dhabi I think that might turn a bit somehow. But nothing drastic I wouldn’t think.
“I think the seamers will still play a role in the UAE. It’s going to be very hot and humid while we’re there.”
Australian opening batsman David Warner played in the UAE for the first phase of the Indian Premier League this year and echoed Marsh's comments on the varying wickets the Emirates offer.
"I played in the IPL over there this year and it’s not going to be like India where it’s turning square; it’s a nice wicket, the curator’s from Melbourne," Warner told cricket.com.au.
"The wicket in Dubai isn’t going to turn as much as people think. Abu Dhabi will turn a bit more … but at the end of the day, it’s just another game – you just have to go out there and back yourself.
"It’s not about how much it’s going to turn or how many spinners they’ll play. I open the batting, I face two fast bowlers and then when I get into (my innings), I should be set to play my game.
"If we play the right way, the brand of cricket that we want to play, and stick with what we know, nothing’s going to get in front of us"