'Tough day' but too early to judge selections: McDonald

Interim coach Andrew McDonald says Australia's call to play one spinner in the first Test in Pakistan can't be judged off just one tough day in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan went to stumps at 1-245 on Friday, giving Australia their hardest day in the field in more than three years to start their first tour of Pakistan since 1998.

On a dry wicket that offered nothing for the quicks, Imam-ul-Haq finished on 132 not out, his first Test century, with Azhar Ali also unbeaten on 64.

Australia's bowlers did well to contain, with Pakistan going at just 2.72 an over and the visitors making a point to restrict after being asked to bowl first.

But the question for Australia all day was where a wicket could come from.

While Pakistan went with two spinners plus a spinning allrounder, Nathan Lyon was Australia's only frontline tweaker.

He was bowling by the eighth over, while Travis Head had the ball by the 17th and Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith also had spells.

All that came as Mitchell Swepson and Ashton Agar watched on from over the boundary.

Regardless though, McDonald said it was unfair to judge tactics off one day with the hope the ball will reverse earlier for the quicks as the match goes on.

"I'd like to think that we can judge over five days and not in isolation on one day," McDonald said.

"Clearly it was a tough day for everyone. For all the bowlers, including the spinners. 

"There was a little bit of tack in the wicket early, which created the speculation it was going to spin. 

"The Travis Head (spell) was more due to the tackiness in the wicket.

"But once that dried out, the spin decreased a significant amount, and it clearly became tougher for both team's spinners."

McDonald did however admit that he expected slightly more out of the Rawalpindi wicket, which has been better suited to quicks in the past.

Mitchell Starc showed some signs of danger early, unsuccessfully reviewing an lbw shout against Imam-ul-Haq on three as Australia's bowlers made a point of targeting the stumps.

The Pakistan opener remained watchful for parts of his innings, hitting Lyon for two sixes but also willing to soak up balls between a pull shot off Pat Cummins that brought up his 50 and brilliant cover drive from Starc for his hundred.

"I think it's going to be attritional cricket," McDonald said. 

"It's still going to be very good for batting over the next couple of days. So it's important for us to be able to contain the runs and the tempo of the game whilst taking some wickets. 

"Hopefully we can be batting at some stage (on Saturday) to even up the game. 

"If Pakistan were to bat all day tomorrow then it starts to shift into potentially two results and not three."

Qantas Tour of Pakistan 2022

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner. On standby: Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Renshaw

March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi

March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi

March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore

Australia ODI and T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi

March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi

April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi

April 5: Only T20I, Rawalpindi

All matches to be broadcast in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports