Pakistan’s middle-order batter Saud Shakeel opened up ahead of the second Test against Australia which is set to begin on December 26 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Saud, who made his Test debut in December 2022, was confident that the team would not repeat the mistakes it did at Perth as every batter is feeling positive.
“Melbourne’s pitch reminds us of Pakistan. Our batters are feeling positive and we are confident that we will not repeat the same mistakes,” Saud said while addressing the media. “We couldn’t do well with the bowl in Perth, we conceded too many runs in the first innings, and we lost the match there.
“We had new bowlers, so it takes [some] time to adjust. Unfortunately, Khurram Shahzad has been ruled out of the series, which gives a great opportunity to Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali.”
Saud then talked about Babar Azam as the 29-year-old has been struggling with the bat saying that for a batter like Azam, it only takes one innings to make a comeback.
“Babar Azam is a world-class batter, he can make a comeback just with one innings. I’m confident that he will play a great knock in Melbourne.
“In Perth, there was a drop-in pitch. I was playing there for the first time and learned a lot.
“When I was young, I used to wake up at 5 am and watch the Boxing Day Test. And now that I am about to play the same Test, the excitement is double,” he concluded.
Shan Masood-led unit suffered a heavy 360-run defeat in the first Test and will now play a two-day practice match against Victoria from December 22-23.
Australia squad for the second Test:
Pat Cummins (captain), 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’s squad:
Shan Masood (captain), Sarfaraz Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamir Jamal, Sajid Khan, Abrar Ahmed.
Atique ur Rehman Atique ur Rehman is a senior reporter for Geo News.