How Aussies channeled Pakistan's reverse-swing kings

It was the kind of bowling that brought back memories of reverse-swing kings Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, and the mystical art they honed in Pakistan that made it a feared place to tour through the 1980s and '90s.

But, denied the chance in the lead-in to Australia's historic tour to learn the secrets of reverse swing in the country it was pioneered in, Mitchell Starc revealed their series-turning assault in Karachi was aided by practice sessions held in the shadow of the MCG.

Until Starc found Azhar Ali's edge amid a chaotic second session on day three of the second Test, the Aussies had spent 869 consecutive deliveries in the field without their heralded pace attack taking a single wicket, having been neutered by a flat surface in the series opener and a focused Pakistan top order.

Within three hours of Starc's first blow, the home side that had made 935 runs for the loss of just four wickets in Rawalpindi were skittled more than 400 shy of parity at Karachi's National Stadium, where they have lost just two out of 44 Tests in almost 70 years.

Pakistan's batting coach Mohammad Yousuf, the star former Test player who began his career when Wasim and Waqar were in the twilights of theirs, said the at-times unplayable spells from Starc (3-29) and skipper Pat Cummins (1-39) on Monday were reminiscent of the pace legends.

"They had a better bowling attack and it showed, we have seen this in the past when Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis or Shoaib Akhtar would bowl, they would give the opponent a tough time," said Yousuf. "And this is what we faced here as well, a great bowling attack."

But while Wasim and Waqar honed their devastating old-ball skills for years on Pakistan's dry, abrasive surfaces, Australia's quicks arrived for their first visit to the cricket-mad nation in 24 years with minimal chance to acquaint themselves with the local conditions.

Fresh off decimating England on juiced-up home decks that largely kept the Kookaburra in pristine shape and which necessitated classical seam and swing bowling, Starc and co. had readied themselves for vastly different surfaces at a near week-long training camp in Melbourne.

That camp effectively took place during the traditional window when a tour match, the lack of which is often decried as a major factor in touring Test teams underperforming, would ordinarily be played in local conditions.

Although unsure of exactly what would confront them in Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore for their first Test campaign abroad in two-and-a-half years, the Aussies were at least certain it would be nothing like what they had just encountered at home against England.

That the drawn first Test bore out on a lifeless surface only added to their base of knowledge, believes Starc

"We've had some extremely thorough conversations as a group in the lead-up to this series, throughout last week with what went on in Rawalpindi," the left-armer said.

"Those few days we had in Melbourne before we came away, we were unsure what we were going to face when we got over here so we applied ourselves to all different scenarios before we left.

"I think that's a feature of this group, to adapt and learn on our feet. And I think we're showing that through the last three days with how we've learned from last week, obviously faced with different conditions here this week, but being able to adapt and stay pretty calm.

"We had one main session in Melbourne before we came away where we all bowled with reverse (swinging) balls.

"We didn't see too much of the old ball through the summer, or certainly reverse swing … it was more about trying to swing the new ball or trying nip it off the seam during the summer.

"So it was just getting some of those cues back to where I feel I need my action to be to get that reverse swing around the wicket (and) try to get the ball to go both ways."

Starc of course did not arrive in Pakistan as a complete subcontinental novice, pointing out on Monday that he had snared 24 wickets at 15.16 in 2016 in Sri Lanka when presented with similar conditions.

The 32-year-old notes that the fuller length he regularly bowls compared to fellow pace stars Cummins and Josh Hazlewood means that, although he typically is more expensive than that pair, he's a bigger threat with the reversing ball.

His extra pace, lower and more slingy bowling action combined with the ability to target batters' pads and stumps from both over and around the wicket has seen him become a reverse-swinging force.  

Fawad Alam, who got his first chance at the crease seven-and-a-half days into a series that had until that point been dominated by his fellow batters, found that out when, on the first ball after Azhar Ali's exit, a devastating late-bender cannoned into his front pad.

It was fitting that the MCG had prepared Starc for what was to follow when Mohammad Rizwan played and missed at a hat-trick ball that nipped violently away from him, just as Joe Root had done in Melbourne in late December when the mercurial speedster had also just taken two wickets in as many balls.

The Root and Rizwan balls marked the 14th and 15th times Starc had been on a hat-trick in international cricket, but again he missed the milestone with an unplayable delivery.

"I didn't know that was the number," said Starc, who once took two hat-tricks in a Sheffield Shield match but is yet to replicate the feat at international level. "I missed out in the same way in Melbourne I think as well.

"It's not like you chase them … I think that ball must have hit a crack a little bit and gone away from Rizwan.

"It was still a decent ball I think, it just didn't find the edge."

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