Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon were left surprised by Pakistan’s decision to rest the experienced pacer Mohammad Abbas for the opening Test of the two-match series on Thursday, November 21, at The Gabba in Brisbane.
In Pakistan's Test squad for the tour of Australia, Abbas is currently the most experienced paceman but he was surprisingly left out of the XI for the Brisbane Test, as they decided to go with the young pace-bowling trio of Imran Khan, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah on the green-looking Gabba wicket.
His omission surprised the Aussie camp, as Abbas could have been a major threat, largely because of his ability to extract movement off the pitch for the hosts.
Read Also: Australian commentators question the legality of Rizwan's dismissal off Cummins’ delivery
Lyon told cricket.com.au on Thursday, “I was actually really surprised, personally. I thought the way he bowled in our series in the UAE was absolutely world class. I think he's ranked (around) the top 10 so for him to miss out, it must show the quality of the Pakistan bowling.”
The off-spinner added, “So we're not going to take them lightly, that's for sure – they've got some world-class bowlers there – but yeah, very surprised that Mohammad wasn't a part of their side.”
Meanwhile, Ponting, believes that Abbas should have been in the Pakistan XI, as the paceman could have proven to be a handful at the Gabba wicket.
The Aussie said, “I was surprised when (Abbas) didn't play … but then talking to (former Pakistan international) Rameez (Raja) apparently he's not in the best of form, he's dropped a couple of yards of pace – and he's never been overly quick anyway.”
He continued, “But you think about these conditions, it would've been perfect for him. Even the next Test in Adelaide, it's going to be great conditions for him there as well.”
Ponting signed off by saying, “There's probably a couple of the Aussie batsmen who think it's good that he's not playing because I think they can probably handle the other two (Imran Khan or Shaheen Afridi) better than they can handle him.”
(With cricket.com.au Inputs)
