Did Pakistan commit blunder by selecting Hasan Ali over Abrar Ahmed in 1st Test vs SA?

Hasan Ali and Abrar Ahmed (Source: AFP)

Pakistan are up against South Africa in the first of the two-match Test series in Lahore. In the last few series, Pakistan have dished out turning tracks to get results on their side, and the same was expected in this series before the start of the first Test.

SA try to fit into spin demands as Pakistan dish out another turning track

Thus, it was expected that both the teams would load their line-up with spinners, and that is exactly what South Africa did. They are playing one pure pacer, Kagiso Rabada and the seam-bowling all-rounder, Wiaan Mulder, is playing the role of second pacer. All other bowlers who bowled in the first innings were spinners, and they bagged nine out of the total 10 wickets.

Overall, South African pacers bowled just 19 overs out of the 110, and it clearly shows that pacers have very little role to play in the game. Thus, the conditions are naturally more suited to the home team and are perfectly crafted to help them dominate South African batters with tweakers.

Pakistan also won the toss and decided to bat first, which now means that South Africa will bat last on a turning pitch. Thus, Pakistan already have an edge over South Africa with the toss going in favour.

Why Abrar Ahmed would have been a better choice than Hasan Ali?

Now, since the time Pakistan have moved to spin-friendly wickets at home, they have played only one pacer in their XI, which seems logical as spinners have bowled most of the overs. However, in this match, they decided to go with Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali as two pacers.

As shown in the table, spinners have bowled 410 overs since Pakistan decided to move to spinning wickets after the loss to England in the first Test of the three-match series in 2024. In stark contrast, pacers have bowled just 26 overs and have taken only two wickets. This shows that pacers have hardly played a role in Test matches in Pakistan over the last year, and if Pakistan knew that they are dishing out another turning track, having two frontline seamers in the XI seems to be a waste of resources.

Performance of Pakistan bowlers since 2nd Test vs ENG in October 2024

Pakistan, though, seem to have realised it later that the pitch has nothing in it for pacers. Shan Masood gave just nine overs to his pacers on Day 2 out of the total 67 overs they bowled, which clearly means that Pakistan have no intention to attack the Proteas with their pacers. 

Thus, having Abrar Ahmed as the third frontline spinner in place of Hasan Ali would have been a more efficient choice, and it would have taken off some load from the two spinners, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan. Noman has bowled 27 overs, while Sajid Khan has bowled 24, and Abrar Ahmed would have provided variety with his mystery spin.

Abrar Ahmed vs Hasan Ali: Home Tests

Abrar Ahmed has also done decently at home with two five-wicket hauls and one 10-fer in eight matches at home. He has played some of his earlier home games on flat wickets, and now a change in the nature of the pitch is likely to help his cause. He also displayed good form in the Asia Cup and has an excellent first-class record, which makes him a good choice for turning wickets in Pakistan.

Hasan Ali, on the other hand, has not done anything extraordinary in home Tests when the pitches were a bit more conducive for pacers in Pakistan. Now, with pacers having almost no help, Pakistan seems to have made a wrong choice by preferring a second seamer, Hasan Ali, in place of a spinner, Abrar Ahmed. 

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