PAK vs AUS | Spinning track on the cards in Karachi: Reports

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After the joy kill in the historic Test match at Rawalpindi, Pakistan Cricket Board is likely to prepare a result oriented pitch at Karachi. If reports out of the Pakistan media are to be believed, the Karachi pitch is going to be spin friendly after it supports the batsmen in the first couple of days. Australia interim head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed to Reuters that the visiting side is likely to field two spinners in the second Test match, based on the intelligence that they have gathered out of Karachi.

The visiting side, as well as the cricket fans, were left frustrated at the conditions in Rawalpindi, which gave zero assistance to the bowlers. Australia were able to pick a total of four wickets in two innings, one of which was a run out by Marnus Labuschange. 

While the Australian captain Pat Cummins stopped short of criticising the pitch, former captain Steve Smith took a sharp dig at the fourth-day press conference, calling it ‘benign’.

Australia have two options barring Nathan Lyon in their spin reserves. Ashton Agar and Mitchell Swepson. While leggie Swepson has not played a Test match, Agar’s last outing was back in 2017 against Bangladesh, before the left arm off spinner transitioned into a T20 commodity.

In terms of the pecking order, Agar does offer Australia with a slight bit of batting cover, while Swepson is more of a pure bowler. Australia currently need good support in their spin department considering Nathan Lyon took just one wicket in the first Test match despite bowling 78 overs. Coach McDonald however did not seem to be worried by the figures of Lyon and said that Rawalpindi was clearly made thinking about the batters.

"I think we’ll get a totally different surface come Karachi, which will present different opportunities for different tactics," he said.

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