Yasir Shah celebrates taking the wicket of England's Chris Woakes on Friday.
Manchester, England - Bowling consultant says Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan 'understand the pitch' at Old Trafford and what pace to bowl at.
Published: Sun 9 Aug 2020, 1:22 AM
Mushtaq Ahmed believes the momentum is with Pakistan's "lethal" leg-spinners Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan in the first Test against England at Old Trafford.
Many teams rarely field one leg-spinner in their side, let alone two, but Pakistan appear to have read the conditions correctly in Manchester for the first of a three-match series.
The experienced Yasir led Pakistan's attack with 4-66 from 18 overs on Friday and Shadab, more of an all-rounder, chipped in with 2-13 from 3.3 overs as England were dismissed for 219 in reply to the visitors' first-innings 326.
And the pair will be expected to be even more effective on an increasingly wearing pitch, with Pakistan extending their overall lead to 244 at 137-8 in their second innings come stumps on the third day.
This series marks the tourists' return to international duty following the coronavirus lockdown, with former Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq, now a bowling consultant to the current side, telling reporters: "Yasir and Shadab have hardly played much cricket for the last five or six months, but the way they bowled in the first innings I think they've got the momentum now.
"They understand the pitch and what pace you need to bowl on it, what fields you need to have to different batsmen.
"I think they are feeling confident in their bowling now," added Mushtaq, who previously held a similar position in England's backroom staff.
Mushtaq, who took 17 wickets during Pakistan's 2-0 victory in a three-match Test series in England back in 1996, said Yasir in particular could be a match-winner after he took three wickets for just four runs in 27 balls on Friday.
"Yasir especially, I think he started a bit nervously but we can understand that and I think he then bowled well and now if we set a good target, they can be lethal out there."
Meanwhile, Chris Woakes said it was no surprise to see fellow all-rounder Ben Stokes drag England back into the first Test as "we know he is capable of miracles".
Stokes who didn't bowl in the third Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford last month because of a quad injury, took 2-11 in 21 balls late on the third day as Pakistan reached stumps on 137-8 in their second innings -- a lead of 244 runs.
England, outplayed for most of this match, now have a shot at claiming an unlikely victory after Stokes had Mohammad Rizwan lbw with just his eighth ball of the match before he bounced out tailender Shaheen Afridi.
Last year, Stokes starred with the ball before his stunning unbeaten century saw England to an outrageous one-wicket in the third Test against Australia at Headingley.
And Woakes, who also took 2-11 on Friday, said there was every chance the England vice-captain could repeat his Ashes heroics in Manchester.
- 'Golden arm' -
"I'm not overly surprised that he could do what he did," Woakes told reporters. "That's Ben Stokes, we know he is capable of miracles.
"He's got a bit of a golden arm, he always has had. He has the knack of picking up wickets.
"When you are in a bit of dog fight, he's the sort of player you want in your team. He always puts his hand up and gives 110 percent."
The tourists are still relatively well-placed.
Only twice has a team chased more than 200 to win in the fourth innings of a Test at Old Trafford, with England making 294-4 against New Zealand in 2008 and 231-3 against the West Indies at the Manchester ground in 2004.
England are trying to end a run of losing the first Test in each of their last five series.
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