In our latest opinion piece, we look ahead to Pakistan's series against South Africa and assess what we have learnt from playing Zimbabwe.

by Shayan Siddiqui (8th September 2013)

In the end, Pakistan comfortably defeated Zimbabwe in the first Test despite the hosts having been on top for large periods of the game. Many fans have been disappointed with the performance from what is essentially Pakistan’s first choice team and with a series coming up against South Africa, the best side in the world, there are concerns about how Pakistan will fare after their struggles against Zimbabwe.

All is not lost though. Pakistani batsmen have historically found the going tough in non-subcontinent conditions, no matter what the strength of the opposition. A fairly mediocre Ireland attack dismantled them in the 2007 World Cup in South Africa, and it was not a huge surprise to many that the talented yet unthreatening Zimbabwe bowlers caused them problems in Harare. The conditions in the UAE will favour the likes of Hafeez and co, even if it is Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander steaming in at them.

It was interesting to see a tweet from a South African journalist who commented that Mohammad Hafeez hadn't ironed out his flaws from his dreadful series against South Africa earlier in the year, where Dale Steyn got the better of him on numerous occasions. No matter how he does in the next Test, it's probable that he will start in the next series. After taking over the T20 side, he is the natural successor when Misbah-Ul-Haq retires, and the management seem keen on giving him some extra time to demonstrate his ability. His bowling is an added bonus particularly when it comes to playing in the UAE, but he needs to remember that far more is expected of him if he is to remain at the top of the batting order.

Asad Shafiq has unfortunately come under some heavy criticism after two failures in the first Test, but a large part of that seems to be linked to his recent ODI performances. Pakistani fans, and selectors it must be said, have a bad habit of amalgamating the different forms of the game and coming to a conclusion about a player’s ability. It seems to have been forgotten that just a couple of Tests ago, Shafiq scored an excellent century in South Africa against a world class attack. Between then and now, he struggled at the Champions Trophy in England but surely the criticism in the longer form of the game is unwarranted.

In recent times, Pakistan have opted for a four-man bowling attack with two pacers joining with the spin duo of Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal. With Rehman’s recent success, as well the pitches in the UAE, it seems certain the management will stick with the same combination against South Africa. This leaves two pace bowling spots up for grab with one expected to go to Junaid Khan. Unless Rahat Ali produces something special in the next Test, Mohammad Irfan should be the second pace bowler. Ideally there would be another right arm quick in the team just for the sake of variety, but with no obvious options it would be sensible to go with the 7ft bowler in the UAE.

It’s difficult to judge really what Pakistan will have gained at the end of the Zimbabwe series. It’s hard to see Zimbabwe winning the second and final Test, so a 2-0 series victory is likely for the visitors, but as is often the case after a series against a “minnow”, there’s not much to take from it. Pakistan picked an unnecessarily strong side with few new players, so it appeared to be an exercise of boosting the players’ confidence levels ahead of the South Africa series. Whether or not that has been achieved remains to be seen, but in a perfect world, scheduling a few 3-day warmup games ahead of the next series and blooding youngsters against Zimbabwe would surely have been a better option.

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