PAK vs AUS 2018: Countering Yasir Shah Australia's top priority, says Peter Siddle

The tour goes on from October 7 to October 28.

Yasir Shah. (The Dawn)The Australian team under Tim Paine will face the heat from Pakistan when they play them for a two-Test match series in the UAE this October. 

Australia will be without the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner who are still serving their bans by Cricket Australia for their involvement in the ball tampering scandal against South Africa earlier this year. 

Veteran Australian pacer Peter Siddle who is making a comeback in the team through this Test series has said that Australia has to counter the threat of Yasir Shah to place themselves comfortably in the Test series. 

Looking to counter Yasir and 19-year-old prodigy Shadab Khan, Australia have re-hired spin bowling consultant Sridharan Sriram and flown in two Indian wrist spinners, including Pardeep Sahu, who has played for Indian Premier League side Kings XI Punjab.

Siddle said the tourists had spent plenty of time in the Dubai heat working out ways to deal with legspin and Yasir, specifically.

“He’s (Yasir) going to play a big part,” said the veteran paceman.

“Spin bowling in this series is going to play a massive part.

“I think it’s going to be a tough contest. He bowled well against us last series over here. He took a lot of wickets, so I think it’s going to be number one plan to keep him out."

Siddle himself expects to play a supporting role to the Australian spinners in the Test series. He also feels that the Dubai wicket will get better after hosting the Asia Cup. 

“I think the last series we came here, the wicket was a bit more flat,” he said.

“It sort of took a few days to actually break up but this series it looks like it’s going to break up a lot earlier so spin is going to play a part."

With regular pacemen Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins ruled out of the tour due to respective injuries,  Siddle said he felt his experience was an important factor in his recall as the team strive to forge a new identity.

“From an outside point of view, the side probably in the last little bit maybe lacked a little bit of leadership,” he said.

“I think without having the captaincy or vice-captaincy or any of those terms, it’s just about being a leader in my own right, doing what I do, lead by example and just help out the young guys.”

(Inputs from Indian Express)

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 25 Sep, 2018

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