Cummins tips Karachi to deliver spin, reverse swing

After the torpor-inducing surface purposely prepared at Rawalpindi, Australia captain Pat Cummins is expecting a markedly different pitch at Karachi that will benefit his new-look spin duo and likely offer reverse swing as early as day one of the second Test.

Cummins today described the lifeless track for last week's series opener as an "absolute outlier” that did not reflect the character of subcontinental pitches.

But he believes the deck for the next match of the Qantas Tour starting tomorrow will provide bowlers and batters alike with a true feel for cricket in Asian conditions.

As such, Australia have called up leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson for his Test debut after five years on the cusp of selection and dispensed with highly-credentialled seamer Josh Hazlewood in the belief fellow quicks Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green are better suited to the dry surface.

Cummins and Starc will share the new ball which the visitors expect to become quickly abraded on the heavily-trafficked centre-wicket block and coarse outfield, with Green as first-change seamer with a brief to perform a holding role and help quell Pakistan's scoring.

While Australia's bowling lacked penetration on the Rawalpindi 'road' where they managed just four wickets from 279 overs, Cummins claims he was happy with the way his team controlled the tempo of the Test and kept Pakistan's scoring rate below three runs per over in their first innings.

He also took solace from Pakistan Cricket Board chair Ramiz Raja's frank admission the Rawalpindi pitch had been prepared to nullify Australia's quicks and give inexperienced opening pair Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique (who both scored hundreds) the best opportunity to prosper.

"One of the strengths in our Test side is being able to have four fast bowlers, so I don't blame (officials) anywhere we play that they try to produce conditions that perhaps might nullify the opposition," Cummins said of Ramiz's revelation.

"If anything, I found it a real positive that they went away from a wicket they would traditionally play there in Rawalpindi and we'll wait and see if that continues this week.

"I expect this wicket to break up a little bit more.

"I don't think that from ball one of the Test match it's going to be ragging (spinning significantly), but I think there will be a bit more rough.

"From what we learned from the first Test, it's always nice to have an attacking bowler from one end and a more holding role down the other.

"But different times call for different methods and I'm confident that, even as a leg-spinner, 'Sweppo' (Swepson) can really play that holding role if needed."

With the Karachi Test pitch positioned between a handful of bare, used wickets and a couple of mottled tracks in the throes of re-growing, and then further flanked by the rival teams' practice strips, Cummins expects reverse swing to be the other significant factor that was absent at Rawalpindi.

Ramiz conceded Pakistan's plan was to ensure pitch conditions reflected the home side's strengths of low bounce, spin and reverse swing which indicates whichever bowlers from Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf are named in the starting XI, the hosts will also enjoy the change in venue.

Rawalpindi produced only occasional hints of the mysterious art due to the cooler, damper weather in the nation's north but Cummins was pleased with the way his team maintained the ball to make the most of reverse swing when the elements aligned.

"I think it will be a bigger factor here, the square's a lot drier," he said prior to Australia's final training session before the second Test starts.

"With rain around in Rawalpindi, the ball got quite soft and damp at times so I think it will be a much bigger factor here and probably much earlier on as well.

"Even day one I wouldn't be surprised if you see it reversing.

"Starcy and I have both played a lot of cricket with reversing balls, so I feel like we're ready to go.

"And I was really happy with how (Green) went in the first Test.

"That's his first Test match in subcontinent conditions, and probably first Test match with the reversing ball and these conditions – even if you play a lot of Shield cricket – you might never experience.

"As a fifth bowling option (after spinners Nathan Lyon and Swepson) his might be more of a holding role but, if the ball starts reversing, he bowls 140kph so he could be a real asset then as well."

While the focus after the first Test was on Australia's pace-heavy bowling attack having snared just three wickets between them (the fourth was a run out), the batting has not been spared scrutiny despite posting their country's highest first-innings score on the subcontinent for more than a decade.

Australia's most recent total above 450 came in the first innings of the final Test of the 2010 tour of India when they amassed 478 at Bangalore but still crashed to a seven-wicket defeat after Sachin Tendulkar pummelled 214 in India's response.

It's that sort of mega-hundred Cummins and his coaching brains trust are looking for, as opposed to the return at Rawalpindi where the first four Australia batters passed 50 but none completed a century.

"We spoke about that after the game," Cummins said today. "There was some positives from the batting group to get high-400s but I think over here, if you get yourself in you've got to try and capitalise.

"And that's us tailenders as well. If we were being really, really critical we might have missed a chance to maybe to bowl on day five with a bit of a lead.

"They (batters) have been working hard the last couple of days at training.

"You try and take it to the extreme, so they're trying to produce extreme conditions (by scuffing up practice pitches) so that on days four and five they're ready for what might come up.

"I think this wicket will provide a couple more questions, and they're up for it."

And with the batters working diligently to prepare for the expected change in playing surface from flat and hard last week to dry and spinning tomorrow, Cummins noted Swepson has long been among the hardest workers at training among the bowling collective.

The skipper also noted the presentation of a long-awaited Baggy Green cap to the 28-year-old would be especially poignant given the leg-spinner's close association with Australia's greatest-ever spin bowler, Shane Warne.

Swepson's cause was championed by Warne before the Queenslander was chosen for his maiden Test tour to India in 2017 and, having bided his time on the periphery for five years, he now realises the destiny Warne foresaw a week after his inspiration's death.

"I haven't spoken to Sweppo about that," Cummins said when asked how Swepson had reflected on Warne's sudden passing.

"But I think all spinners have a closer affinity. I know Nathan Lyon got a lot of value off Shane Warne, even Fawad Ahmed who's here as a consultant worked a lot with Warnie.

"I think it's quite special that someone like Mitchell Swepson is going to debut tomorrow as a leg-spinner, who grew up trying to replicate Warnie.

"These kinds of moments gives everyone moments of clarity and perspective and, if anything, the way he (Warne) played was a pretty good blueprint for every player that wants to be part of Test wins and win the game for their team.

"The common theme is that everyone seems to have a story or two about Warnie ... and a few of those stories have hit home and invigorated a lot of the players."

Qantas Tour of Pakistan 2022

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, 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

First Test: Match drawn

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