Australia captain Pat Cummins believes the team will be charged up for the third Test against Pakistan after 172 overs in the field in Karachi.
The Aussies will need to put the disappointment of not being able to bowl out Pakistan in almost two days of play behind them to focus on the third and deciding Test in Lahore. Their skipper has said that the team will be fully charged for the final Test, which starts from March 21.
The three-match series is tied at 0-0 after Pakistan put on a magnificent resilience on the last two days of the Karachi Test, led by Babar Azam’s 196. The visitors sent down 172 overs in the fourth innings of the Test, of which spinners Nathan Lyon and Mitch Swepson shared 108. After two gruelling days in scorching heat, Cummins asserts that there’s no concern regarding fitness of the players and the team will show up in Lahore fully charged.
“Had a walkaround and everyone is fine, there’s no big injury concerns. We knew it was a 15-day tour, basically back-to-back, that’s why we protected ourselves on the last day of the last Test [in Rawalpindi]. We know what we’ve signed up for, so we will put everything into next week,”
Cummins said.
Australia fast bowlers did not have a huge workload in the second Test as the hosts were bowled out in just 53 overs in the first innings while the spinners bowled most of the overs in the second innings. Cummins bowled the most overs with 39 while Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green sent down 34 and 23 overs, respectively.
Australia have Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland in the squad along with uncapped Mark Steketee. In the spin department, they have Ashton Agar on the bench and could be given an opportunity.
“We’ve got a full contingent if we need to call on anyone. The quick bowlers, all bowled between 20 and 35 overs or something like that, so not a huge workload. [It’s] probably the spinners, make sure they are looked after,”
he added.
The nature of the Lahore pitch that will be served in this fixture remains unknown as it’s the first Test at the venue since 2009. In five first-class matches hosted here last year, the pitches were flat with both pacers and spinners struggling to have any impact.
