World champions South Africa face tough challenge against Pakistan in two-Test series

World champions South Africa face a stern spin challenge in Pakistan without two of their key players when both teams kickstart their next World Test Championship campaigns on Sunday.

Proteas regular captain Temba Bavuma will miss the two-Test series because of a strained calf. Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj is only available for the second test because of a groin injury.

“We’re going to miss Temba a lot, of course, he’s our leader,” South Africa captain Aiden Markram said Saturday.

“We don’t need to give him any introductions. He’s a batter firstly for us that has been doing incredibly well ... and then naturally the leadership as well. It is a big miss for us, but the other boys are pulling together and trying to get us off to a good start.”

Bavuma led the Proteas to the WTC title at Lord’s in a five-wicket victory over Australia in the final.

Maharaj’s absence from the first test is “a big loss,” Markram said.

Left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy got a nod from Markram for the first Test after the spinner took four wickets against Zimbabwe in a Test match in July when South Africa rested all their key red-ball players.

The 36-year-old Simon Harmer, who hasn’t played a Test match since March 2023, is the other specialist spin option for South Africa.

Pakistan, which finished last in the previous WTC cycle, won three of their last four home test matches on spin wickets made with the help of industrial-sized fans, heaters and wind breakers. The home team didn’t use any of those while preparing the wicket for the first test at Gaddafi Stadium, but spinners are still expected to be a factor on a grassless 22-yard strip.

The Proteas tried to replicate expected spin conditions back home when they practised on underprepared wickets at the High Performance Center in Pretoria during a two-day training camp.

“As a team that’s not exposed to those (spin) conditions, it’s exciting for us and a great opportunity for us to get things right in these conditions,” Markram said.

Pakistan players go into first Test with little experience of red-ball cricket since they lost to the West Indies in Multan in late January and drew the series 1-1. Premier batter Babar Azam and fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who hasn’t played a Test match for a year, haven’t played a first-class game over the last nine months.

Captain Shan Masood scored 90 and 111 in his last two County Championship games for Leicestershire while wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan struck a century in his only first-class game last week in a domestic tournament.

But Masood was not overthinking about lack of his players competing in first-class games.

“It will be a good yardstick for us to play against them, especially if we can get a good result against them,” Masood said. “We couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.”

Masood defended Pakistan’s decision to go with spin-friendly wickets.

“We have introduced spin favourable conditions at home,” he said. “If you need to do well in the WTC, home form matters a lot, and you have to complement that with away series results. My focus is now on how to get good results over the next 10 days of cricket.”

Off-spinner Sajid Khan, who bagged 19 wickets in the two Test wins over England on rank-turners and another 15 against the West Indies in two games, was still recovering from a viral infection. Masood said a final decision on Khan’s inclusion will be taken on Sunday morning.

An alternative for Pakistan could be giving a debut to 38-year-old left-arm spinner Asif Afridi.

Agencies