“If you look at the difference between Multan and Pindi, there is a difference in climate,” Shakeel said. “Multan is warmer than Pindi, Multan is hotter and more humid compared to Pindi. Pindi slightly prefers fast bowlers and has more bounce, compared to Multan. The fielder prepares accordingly, and I think that is what causes the changes in the field.
“But the way the pitch looks and the success we had in the second Test, we will try to achieve a similar type of pitch that will favor us and help us win this game.”
Since returning from the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan has been agonizing over how best to take advantage of home field. In the early years, the sensible thing to do was to drastically change their tactics in the UAE and revert to friendly launches that they believed would be easier to prepare for. It coincided with the emergence of a young generation of fast bowlers, notably Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. The initial boost, such as a five for Naseem against Sri Lanka and a hat-trick against Bangladesh, followed by a two-Test series victory over South Africa, where Afridi took five wickets in a decisive final day in Pindi, seemed to vindicate What a tactic.
For now, it appears to have caused a sharp change of course in the PCB’s thinking. “We should be analyzing pitching series after series and game after game. And we have realized this quite late,” Shakeel said. “If you want to prepare for the SENA [series in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia]you can do it during practice and first-class cricket. If there is first-class cricket before South Africa, we could prepare those kinds of pitches there. But we must prepare the fields and conditions series by series and depending on the opposition.
“Our comeback in the second game gave us a very good morale boost. A win is always very helpful in creating a positive atmosphere. We will try to give the spinners an advantage once again, because they struggled with that in the second Test.”
Pakistan opted not to name their XI on Tuesday, as did England, preferring a broader look at the surface. Legspinner Zahid Mahmood was ineffective despite the useful conditions in Multan, bowling just six overs in the entire match, potentially slightly increasing the chances of playing a specialist seamer.
Ultimately, given England have named three spinners, that seems unlikely. “I can’t say right now because we haven’t discussed this,” Shakeel said. “If there is a spinner pitch, we can go back to using three spinners.”
