The lack of express pace from Pakistan’s seamers in the first Test has been widely discussed domestically, and it appears to have caught the attention of the opposition Australia as well. Mitchell Starc, the Aussie fast bowler, said that everyone in the Australia team was surprised at Pakistan’s inability to hit higher gears with the ball, especially given their reputation for doing so.
Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf’s unavailability in the PAK vs AUS Test series left Pakistan with a limited number of fast bowlers to select from. Shaheen Shah Afridi was the only real ‘quick’ bowler in Pakistan’s starting XI, but even his own pace has dropped from its fastest days since his return from a knee injury. In the first Test at Perth, he averaged 130 kmph before dropping to 120 kmph in the second innings.
Everyone was slightly surprised: Mitchell Starc
Speaking to the media before the second Test at the MCG, Starc said, “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]. I don’t think that pace is the be all and end all but it certainly plays a part and can help.”
However, 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. 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,” he added.
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