England’s spin bowling consultant Mushtaq Ahmad believes that the three match Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be a spin battle between Graeme Swann and Saeed Ajmal.
Both spinners are currently rated two of the best in international cricket and will be aiming to do well against each other on slow pitches in UAE.
According to Mushtaq, “I see this series as a big challenge for the English and Pakistani spinners and there is going to be tough competition between Swann [Graeme] and [Saeed] Ajmal, who are the best off-spinners in the business today. It will depend on what sort of pitches are prepared for the series but I sense they will give assistance to the slow bowlers.”
The English spin bowling coach has also played 52 Tests for Pakistan, but says his profession will not be affected by emotions.
This series will be of extreme importance for the Poms, as they have mostly won matches on home soil. They will be quite confident of doing well, especially in the longest version of the game, being the number one ranked side in this format.
However, Pakistan have also been playing some consistent cricket over the past one year. The team is yet to be beaten in any series under skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, who is geared up for the upcoming encounter.
Last time when both sides played a Test series was back in 2010 and England completely dominated that competition. Their success came on home soil though and things will be quite difficult for them in the heat of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
In order to overcome Pakistan in UAE, the British side will need to rely on their spinners more than the seamers.
Mushtaq has been working hard to polish the spin bowlers in the side and claimed, “England has been preparing hard for this series and I have tried to convince them that they must learn to depend on spin if they want to win in the Asian region.”
Both teams will also feature in One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 series after the Tests.
The first game of the series will be held in Dubai on Tuesday, January 17, 2012.
