Australian bowlers managed to pick only four Pakistani wickets in the first Test.
Australia captain, Pat Cummins, has rubbished the notion that the confidence of his bowling attack had taken a hit, as the tourists failed to take a single wicket in the second innings with the opening Test against Pakistan of the ongoing three-match Test series ended in the draw.
Pakistan dominated the first Test in Rawalpindi, played on a dead pitch with nothing for the bowlers. The hosts posted a first-innings total of 476-4d, and then made 252/0 in the second innings in response to Australia’s 459, as the run-feast ended in a draw on Tuesday (March 8).
However, it was a fact that the Rawalpindi pitch was a big help for the batters, and many former cricketers criticized the pitch. But on the other hand, Australia could manage only 4 wickets in the first Test, which could have been a cause of concern for others, but not Cummins.
Cummins told reporters when asked whether Australian bowlers felt deflated after toiling for little success after the first Test: “It's not a hit at all. Our three quick bowlers and (spinner) Nathan (Lyon) are all quite experienced.”
The skipper added, “They've played a lot of cricket on really good wickets, flat wickets, bouncing wickets, spinning wickets. When we came over here, we knew we were going to experience foreign conditions. Whoever's called on for the next test will be ready to go.”
On being asked whether the uncapped leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson will be given chance in the second Test against Pakistan, Cummins said that the tourists will spend the next couple of days reviewing it, having a look at different plans ahead of the Karachi Test.
He signed off by saying on the bowler’s workload, “We all bowled around about 25 or 30 overs each, which in comparison to a lot of Australian test matches is actually a pretty light workload. We did not get a huge amount of reverse swing in this test but that might come into later on. I was really happy with how everyone went and everyone's come through unscathed.”
(With Reuters Inputs)