Khurram Shahzad, who impressed on debut in the first Test of the Benaud-Qadir Trophy, at Perth, may miss the second match of the series at Melbourne with injury after being sent for an MRI scan.
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Pakistan had arrived in Australia without Naseem Shah, who had undergone a surgery, while Haris Rauf had opted out of the Test series. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed, too, missed the first Test match, at the Perth Stadium.
Pakistan had little option but to field three seamers – debutants Aamer Jamal and Khurram Shahzad, and Faheem Ashraf. Shaheen Shah Afridi, their spearhead, was not at his fastest, while part-time off-spinner Salman Ali Agha was the only slow bowler of the attack.
Jamal (6-111 and 1-28) and Shahzad (2-83 and 3-45) impressed, sharing 12 of the 15 wickets Pakistan claimed, but that was not enough to prevent an Australia win by 360 runs inside four days.
During the Perth Test match, Shahzad had “complained of discomfort in the left side”, was sent for a subsequent MRI scan. According to an ESPNcricinfo report, “his participation in the second is on balance unlikely”.
Head coach Mohammad Hafeez informed that left-arm spinner Noman Ali, who had trounced Sri Lanka with a spell of 7-70 the last time he bowled in Test cricket, in July, has sustained a finger injury as well.
As Abrar’s replacement, Pakistan had flown out off-spinner Sajid Khan, who could not make it in time for the Perth Test match. If Shahzad indeed misses the Boxing Day Test match, one of Sajid or fast bowlers Hasan Ali and Mohammad Wasim Jr is likely to replace him. The selection is likely to depend on Pakistan’s two-day match against a Victorian XI at the Junction Oval on December 22 and 23.
Since the Sydney Test match of 1995/96, Pakistan have played 15 Test matches in Australia and have lost all of them, the longest streak of defeats by any side in any country in the format.
