Pakistan are determined to play a tough game in a Test match for the second time in 28 years

Abrar’s absence means Pakistan will be without a top spinner for only the second time in a home Test – including their UAE Tests – since September 1995 (although they did play a few Tests in the early 2000s with Shahid Afridi as their only spinner). The last time they played an all-pace attack was in Rawalpindi, in December 2019, in their first Test in Pakistan in 10 years. That was part of a change in strategy under the new leadership of Azhar Ali, who, with Yasir Shah’s form dipping, wanted to rely more on pace. It didn’t last long as Yasir was back and, in the following seasons, pitches were being prepared to help spin.