Coach Whatmore not surprised by Pakistan win

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — When Pakistan was beaten by lowly ranked Zimbabwe at Harare in a test match last month, coach Dav Whatmore was still confident his team would be competitive when up against top-ranked South Africa in the hot and humid conditions of the United Arab Emirates.

So the seven-wicket win against the Proteas in the first test this week did not surprise Whatmore as he prepared the team for the second test, starting Wednesday.

“I wasn’t surprised we did well,” Whatmore said after his team’s training session in Dubai on Sunday.

Whatmore was criticized after Pakistan won only one of its last five tests this year before coming to Abu Dhabi, a sequence that included a 3-0 whitewash against South Africa and a 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe.

But Whatmore was sure Pakistan would bounce back once they play in the more familiar conditions of the UAE where it had been playing its “home” series since the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lanka team bus at Lahore stopped foreign teams from touring Pakistan.

“People leading up to this series in Pakistan they were alluding to the fact ... you lost against Zimbabwe and here you are going to play the No. 1 team in the world, no chance,” Whatmore said. “In my mind I knew that we can be competitive ... the conditions were different (in South Africa and Zimbabwe) and we have little change of our playing personnel.

“I mean these things do matter, but unfortunately there are people there (in Pakistan) who perhaps just look at the surface, don’t think of anything else.”

The selectors dropped opener Mohammad Hafeez after Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain scored only 102 runs in his last 10 test innings and replaced him with 24-year-old left-hander Shan Masood.

“That was the selectors’ decision and I think some credit should be given to them in terms of the ability to see a player in Shan Masood,” Whatmore said. “Sometimes a bold decision does not come off, other times it does, I think you have to give credit where it is due.

“He’s got a good temperament and I think he has got a very bright future.”

Whatmore had long been asking his openers to take the shine off the new ball by establishing big partnerships, but Pakistan openers had not registered a century stand in 18 months.

Khurram Manzoor (146) scored a big century and Masood made an impressive 75 as their century stand laid Pakistan’s foundation of a solid 442 in the first innings against South Africa for a lead of 193 runs.

“I’ve always said that if we are serious about winning test matches then we need to improve our ability to negotiate the new ball,” Whatmore said. “We were reasonably successful in that and that was one of the reasons we’ve done well.”

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq also capitalized on his openers’ achievement by scoring 100 while Asad Shafiq (54) also scored a fine half century as South Africa bowlers bowled short and gave Pakistan batters plenty of time to adjust their strokes.

Whatmore has seen South Africa bounce back from setbacks before, including a series against Sri Lanka in 2000 when the Proteas lost the first test but came back to win the second and draw the third to draw the series.

“This South African unit is quite resilient,” he said. “I’ve had a firsthand experience ... so you write them off at your peril.”

Pakistan’s only worry is the fitness of lanky fast bowler Mohammad Irfan, who came off the ground briefly during the first innings at Abu Dhabi with an undisclosed injury.

Whatmore said the 7-foot-1 bowler needs to be properly handled.

“He’s obviously big player in all three formats, but at the end of the day you don’t want Mohammad Irfan injured,” he said. “You want him available for selection, so I think we need to be a little bit careful how we manage him ... whether it’s a test match or one-day it’s immaterial.”