Marnus Labuschagne is among those in the Australian team who are preparing for the unknown as they prepare to face Pakistan in a historic Test series that starts on March 4 in Rawalpindi. It is Australia's first tour of the country in 24 years and the batters in the squad have been talking about preparing for the twin challenge of playing in the spin-friendly conditions that are found normally in the subcontinent while also accounting for the reverse swing that Pakistan's lethal fast bowlers can generate.
“Obviously, I know Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi are their two sort of main fast bowlers and then we'll have to see who's going to go with those two. Like you said, you have to prepare for everything. There'll be times in the game when they will bowl short based on the wicket. It's about coming to terms with that,” Labuschagne told Cricbuzz.
While they may not have faced the kind of reverse swing that they could have deal with in Pakistan during the Ashes at home, Labuschagne said that there was some seam movement at some of the venues which might help in the preparations for the tour. Facing an express fast bowler like Mark Wood in those conditions was also useful.
“The wickets we played on during this summer had a bit of seam movement in them as well. Add then Mark Wood who bowls at 150. You just got to keep getting better and I certainly got away from that series and worked on a few technical things to make sure that I've got them down pat if teams start going down that path,” said Labuschagne.
{{/usCountry}}“The wickets we played on during this summer had a bit of seam movement in them as well. Add then Mark Wood who bowls at 150. You just got to keep getting better and I certainly got away from that series and worked on a few technical things to make sure that I've got them down pat if teams start going down that path,” said Labuschagne.
{{/usCountry}}“You can certainly do things with tennis balls in the backyard but in terms of training you just scuff some balls up and make sure they're ready. That they are reversing, and you just come up with plans and thoughts as to how you'll play it. You bat on a different stump, or you take a different guard or whatever changes you make to your game that suits playing reverse swing or suits your strength.”
The tour will consist of three Test matches followed by as many ODIs. It ends with a lone T20I. While the second and third Tests will be played in Karachi and Lahore respectively, the rest of the tour will be played in Rawalpindi.