Need to give Yasir Shah more chance as he just made a comeback: Sarfraz Ahmed

They had high hopes on him and expected him to repeat his performance of the 2014 series. But Yasir Shah had an ordinary return to the Test side in the first Test in Dubai and saw Pakistan failing to emerge victorious even after having Australia in the coffin. The series still stands nil-nil with the second game scheduled in Abu Dhabi between October 16 and 20.

Shah, who made his debut against the same opponents at the same venue in October 2014, returned to the longer format after nursing a hip injury and ended without a single wicket in the first innings of the match. He came back a better bowler in the second innings with four wickets for 114 runs (three of which came in seven balls) and they included the prized one of centurion and Man of the Match, Usman Khawaja.

But it was far too late for the home team and the visitors had an escape as they batted bravely to see off the last day with 2 wickets in hand. Debutant Bilal Asif, on the other hand, took 6 wickets for 36 runs in the first innings.

Pakistan had earlier taken a big lead of 282 runs in the first innings and gave the visitors a steep target of 462 to overhaul. Riding Khawaja’s century (141) and some gritty batting from Travis Head (72) and captain Tim Paine (61 not out) in the second essay, Australia finished at 362 for 8.

Captain defends Yasir Shah who had an ordinary game for most part

The 32-year-old Shah’s match figures of 4 for 194 were not quite up to the mark, especially given the fact that he had taken 12 wickets in a two-Test series against the Aussies in 2014. But skipper Sarfraz Ahmed came to the bowler’s defence. “Yasir Shah is playing Test cricket after a year. So, I think we should give some margin to him,” Ahmed said after the match on Thursday.

“This was his first match after a long time … Yes, he has practised and played domestic cricket. But, Test cricket is a different ball game altogether. We should give him a chance. He is our main bowler. This is a part of cricket. It was Yasir who got us back into the game after picking up three wickets. We should not write him off just yet. He has put up performances for Pakistan in the past.”

Ahmed himself came under criticism for his field placements in the afternoon session on Day 4 which many felt gave the Australian openers an easy time.

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