Aussies braced for unknown challenge of Pakistan tour

An Australian Test side with a new coach, an inexperienced captain and not a single series win overseas in six years will face one of their greatest challenges when they tour Pakistan next month.

And making the assignment that much more difficult for Pat Cummins' team will be the element of the unknown, with no Australian side having toured there since 1998, and only five Tests played in the country since international teams began returning there in 2019, a decade on from a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team of 2009.

Those are the opinions of a couple of Test batting greats, Mark Waugh and Greg Chappell, who also offered up the likelihood of differing threats for Australia's batting group, in the form of both reverse swing and spin when the three-Test series gets underway next Friday, March 4.

Waugh is the most recent Australian to have notched three figures in Test cricket in Pakistan, his third-innings 117 having helped Mark Taylor's side to a draw in the third Test in Karachi on that '98 tour, and ultimately a landmark one-nil series win – Australia's only triumph in the subcontinental nation in the past 60 years.

Image Id: 3FEF1F827A414098A85FA77B65EB11C2 Image Caption: Waugh celebrates his century in Karachi // Getty

And while acknowledging it is almost a quarter of a century since he toured there, the 128-Test veteran remains well placed to assess the types of pitches a Test tour of Pakistan has traditionally thrown up.

"I always thought the wickets in Pakistan, they're not like Indian wickets – they don't break up, and they're not as dusty," Waugh told cricket.com.au. "They don't have a lot of grass on them but they're quite hard, and reverse swing is as much, if not more of a danger than spin.

"In my era they had Mushtaq (Ahmed) and Saqlain (Mushtaq), and a few other bits-and-pieces spinners, but I always thought the quick bowlers were equally as dangerous, if not more so, in Pakistan, with reverse swing and pace through the air.

"So it's certainly different to India – it's not as spin-oriented."

Recent statistics support Waugh's view. As cricket.com.au reported last month, in the five Tests Pakistan have hosted since late 2019, fast bowlers have taken 89 wickets at an average of just under 30 compared to 48 wickets from spinners at an average nudging 40.

Waugh also called out the quality of Pakistan's left-arm paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi, who he believes will cause Australia's left-handers – in particular David Warner – problems with his angle of delivery, pace and ability to move the ball away.

"I don't think Warner's looked quite as comfortable against quick bowling in recent times – Mark Wood definitely unsettled him, and Shaheen Afridi will be a big test for him," he said.

"It's a different angle and for him it's a little bit like a right-arm quick coming round the wicket – do you play the ball, or do you leave the ball?

"Generally a right-arm seamer over the wicket is going to angle across the wicket so he's probably more confident whether to leave or play the ball, but when you've got the left-armer from that different angle, he's probably not as comfortable. Shaheen Afridi's got the ability to angle in and take the ball away from David Warner, so he does pose that question.

"Then if one goes straight on, he's bringing bowleds and lbws into play. So it's a different challenge, definitely."

Chappell toured Pakistan for a three-Test series in 1980, making 235 in the drawn second Test in Faisalabad followed by a pair of half-centuries in another draw in Lahore.

That series, won one-nil by Pakistan, was dominated by spin; Australian left-arm orthodox tweaker Ray Bright took 15 wickets while the hosts' spin pair, Iqbal Qasim (16) and Tauseef Ahmed (12) collected 28 between them.

Four decades on, Chappell believes the wickets produced will likely be contingent on what Pakistan considers to be the best way to beat Australia who, despite their most recent away series win coming back in February 2016 in New Zealand, have recently become the ICC's top-ranked Test nation.

"I've played on some really good, bouncy wickets in Pakistan, but I've coached India there (in January 2006) when they've produced some slow, turning wickets, so it could be a mixed bag," the former Australia captain said.

"It really depends on what they're trying to do. They'll probably see (pace bowling) as Australia's strength, with the weaknesses for Australia being the second spinner, and how well we play spin.

"I think they're more likely to produce conditions that will be conducive to spin and try to put pressure on us that way, and blunt our pace attack a bit."

Both former players agreed that the foreign and largely unknown touring aspects of Pakistan, both on the field and away from it, will also factor into what presents as one of the most significant challenges an Australian Test side can face.

"You've got an inexperienced captain, a new coach, and you're up against a quality side, so it's going to give us a good indication of where we sit," Waugh said. "I think (Pat) Cummins' captaincy is going to be tested out a lot more than it was in Australia this summer.

"England were poor (in the four-nil Ashes defeat), there's no doubt about it. We were good, but they didn't offer much of a challenge.

"It's going to be much more challenging in Pakistan, where a lot of our players have never been before.

"It's not the easiest country to tour, there'll be a lot of security, they're going to be quite insulated in their hotels, and it's a good quality opponent."

Added Chappell: "It's a huge test. It's a challenging place to play cricket for Australians because of the on-field conditions, but more so off the field, and particularly in the current environment, there's not many places where you can get away and relax, so it'll be fairly full-on.

"A lot of the guys have spent a lot of time in India in recent times, but it's a different tour to India – it's not as open as India is – so it'll be challenging for them both on and off the field, and if Pakistan play as well as they can play, it'll be a big challenge."

Qantas Tour of Pakistan 2022

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood

Australia 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

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