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The first Test saw a lot of domestic attention focused
on Pakistani seamers’ lack of express pace, and it seems the opposition saw it
too. Given Pakistan’s reputation for hitting faster balls, Australian fast
bowler Mitchell Starc claimed that “everyone” in their setup was
taken aback by the team’s incapacity to achieve greater ball speeds.
“I think everyone was slightly surprised at the
lower pace of the Pakistan bowlers, when you’re generally used to some guys
getting in the 150s [kph],” Starc said, speaking to media at the MCG two
days before the start of the second Test. “I don’t think that pace is the
be all and end all but it certainly plays a part and can help.”
There weren’t as many high-pace options available to
Pakistan due to injuries to Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf’s decision to miss the
Test series against Australia. Shaheen Shah Afridi bore a large portion of the
load, but even he hasn’t run as fast as he did in the days following his knee
injury recuperation.
He averaged in the low 130s during the first Test in
Perth, but in the second innings, he dropped to the high 120s. Pakistan also
chose three other seam alternatives that are not express. Throughout the game,
Khurram Shahzad bowled at medium-fast speeds, and although Aamer Jamal improved
as the game progressed, he hardly ever reached 140 kph. Compared to Josh
Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, and Starc, who all frequently hit the mid-140s, it was
a sharp contrast. That contrast was evident on a spicy wicket that got progressively
livelier as the match progressed.
Starc acknowledged that the extra pace wouldn’t be
quite as crucial at the MCG. “Case in point, you look at Scotty Boland who
can bowl good wheels, but he’s not at your top end of pace bowlers,” he
said. “But he generates a lot of sideways movement here in Melbourne,
obviously being his home ground. He’s done it for a long time and we saw that
obviously against England, where every ball he bowled could have been a wicket.
So I don’t think that pace is the be all and end all. Certainly, for our attack
we all complement each other really well by doing things very
differently.”