Khurram to fly home as Pakistan vow to attack

Pakistan have vowed to take a more aggressive approach with the bat in the second NRMA Insurance Test, but have suffered a major blow with the ball after impressive paceman Khurram Shahzad was ruled out of their Australia tour with an unusual injury.

Khurram showed up his more experienced teammates in snaring five wickets on debut in Perth, including Steve Smith in both innings. But Pakistan announced on Thursday that he would fly home after suffering a stress fracture in his left rib, an injury more common in rowers than cricketers.

The 24-year-old had complained of side pain after sending down 38 overs in the hosts' comprehensive 360-run victory and will return to Lahore after he sees a specialist in Australia.

With the visitors already missing star quicks Naseem Shah (who has a shoulder injury) and Haris Rauf (elected to play in the KFC BBL), it is the second injury suffered by one of their bowlers on this tour after Abrar Ahmed hurt his right leg during a tour match in Canberra.

The leg-spinner appears unlikely to play in the final two Tests, but has remained with the squad.

Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza, who both had lengthy bowling sessions at the MCG nets on Thursday morning under the watchful eye of fast bowling coach Umar Gul, are the frontrunners to replace Khurram in Melbourne.

"He bowled really well, he had a big job coming here. I'm really sad for him that he got injured," batter Saud Shakeel told reporters on Thursday.

"That's part of the game. We have a couple of other bowlers as well – Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali – and they can get good wickets in this Melbourne Test."

The Boxing Day Test will mark a special occasion for Shakeel, who recalled waking up at 5am as a child to watch Pakistan play on television in the traditional fixture.

The MCG's head curator Matthew Page is hopeful of producing another pacey pitch but Shakeel has taken heart from the likelihood that Perth was the most extreme bounce they will see on this tour.

The 28-year-old insists his teammates will look to attack the Australian bowlers on a surface he hopes will better suit them. Five days out from the match, it was sporting a healthy coverage of grass, but groundstaff are expected to cut most off in coming days.

Whether Pakistan can actually follow through on their pledge to take on the Aussies with the bat is another question entirely.

Pakistan captain Shan Masood was equally gung-ho before the series opener. His side proceeded to score at the relatively sedate pace of 2.72 runs per over for the match.

In the first innings, their openers had ticked along at about two per over before No.3 Masood attempted to lift the rate. They were eventually bowled out for 271 in 101.5 overs.

Australia's bowlers were then irresistible in routing Pakistan for only 89 in their second dig, by which time the wicket was misbehaving.

"We just need to be more positive with our batting approach and just play some attacking shots to get runs and put them under pressure," said Shakeel, who made 28 and 24 in the first Test.

"In the second innings in Perth, the cracks opened a little and it was slightly difficult to bat on that fourth day. They bowled well … but the cracks played a bit of a role.

"The Perth pitch has got the maximum bounce. I think this pitch will suit us … The matches in Melbourne I've seen, it's not (as) hard to bat on.

"When you come to Australia they've got good experience, they have a quality attack. When you're playing in their home conditions it's more of a mental challenge than physical. As a team … we have to go out there and score runs."

As revealed by cricket.com.au last week, Pakistan will play a two-day tour game at the Junction Oval from Friday against a Victoria XI composed of local players mostly without KFC BBL deals.

Australia Under-19 prospect Harry Dixon has been included in a side captained by Peter Handscomb and featuring two more former Test batters in Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski. 

Victoria XI: Peter Handscomb (c/wk), Marcus Harris, Dylan Brasher, Will Pucovski, Blake Thomson, Harry Dixon, Sam Elliott, Xavier Crone, Doug Warren, Cam McClure, Wil Parker, Matt Fotia

NRMA Insurance Test series v Pakistan

First Test: Australia win by 360 runs

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG (10.30am AEDT)

Third Test: January 3-7, SCG (10.30am AEDT)

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi