New-look Pakistan take on confident Zimbabwe (Preview)

Zimbabwe’s re-admission into the fold of Test cricket was a fairy tale affair as they convincingly beat Bangladesh in the one-off match at home soil. Now, another Asian team, Pakistan will grind it out against them in a 5-day encounter at the familiar Bulawayo. Few years back, the result of this match would have been a foregone conclusion, but the newfound confidence of Zimbabwe means that Pakistan will have to play out of their skins to pocket the match.

Pakistan landed with a squad full of fresh faces- four players are yet to play a Test, five others have played just 24 matches between them. Only Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq among them have the real experience in the longest format of the game. It is an honest attempt by the Pakistan selectors to blood some of the upcoming talent in a relatively short series especially the pace bowlers since three premier operators Umar Gul, Tanvir Ahmed and Wahab Riaz have been rested. It remains to be seen if the youthful exuberance can make for the lack of experience during what would be their last series under the tutelage of Waqar Younis.

If the experimentation was not complete with the glut of changes, there is one more interesting selection in the form of Shoaib Malik. The former captain was pulled out of cold store all of a sudden after clearance from the PCB integrity committee. The right hander last played on the England tour one year ago. He along with Younis and Misbah would lend solidity to the middle order.

On the contrary, Zimbabwe seem to have finally settled down as a team under the captaincy of Brendon Taylor. It is no more an assemblage of eleven players but a well oiled unit that does not give away anything. That was very much evident against Bangladesh. Alan Butcher has played his role as the coach, mentoring the young side with aplomb.

Their batting revolves around Taylor and Taibu, both men have the ability to stand up against the best of attacks. Sibanda and Masakadza also can be hard to dislodge once they settle down. Rest of their batting, however, would need to show lot of resolve against Pakistan which has a varied bowling line up unlike their previous opponents.

As things stand, it should be a good battle between bat and ball with both teams looking for an outright win.

Squads:

Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor (C), Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Regis Chakabva, Tino Mawoyo, Greg Lamb, Craig Ervine, Malcolm Waller, Elton Chigumbura, Kyle Jarivis, Raymond Price, Christopher Mpofu, Prosper Utseya, Brian Vitori.

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (C), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Rameez Raja, Adnan Akmal (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Sohail Tanvir, Sohail Khan, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Shoaib Malik.