Follow UsAfter losing the first Test by 93 runs, the defending World Test Champions, South Africa, have added important weaponry in the form of Keshav Maharaj in their playing 11 for the second Test, scheduled to take place in Rawalpindi.
Maharaj, who has taken 203 Test wickets, becoming the first spinner in South Africa’s history to cross the 200-Test wickets mark, missed the first game due to injury and would be looking to make the most of spin-friendly conditions at the wicket.
"Obviously, it’s great to have him back in the camp. He brings lots of experience and a really good skill set as well, so we're looking forward to this game starting tomorrow, which is an opportunity for us to level the series,” Reuters quoted South Africa's stand-in captain Aiden Markram as saying during the pre-match press conference on October 19 (Sunday).
While the Pakistan spinners took 16 wickets, the South African spinners took 18 of them, meaning that apart from Shaheen Afridi’s late reverse-swing burst, there was nothing in the wicket for seamers in Lahore.
In Rawalpindi, which has behaved as a road for the last three seasons with runs being scored freely, fans and heaters were at work to dry the wicket and make it spin-friendly. The South African skipper did not seem bothered by that.
"We're expecting it to spin. We've expected those types of conditions from day one, and it's about us having done some homework post the first test and coming up with new plans to hopefully counter that and give ourselves a chance of succeeding in these conditions,” he said.
In all likelihood, one between Prenelan Subrayen or Simon Harmer will have to make way for Maharaj, who would bring in the left-arm spin into the game and challenge a right-hander-heavy Pakistan batting line-up.