Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore has turned up the heat on Australia ahead of the one-day international (ODI) series starting on Tuesday in Sharjah.
Whatmore says playing an ODI in the late-night heat and humidity of Sharjah will be an enormous challenge for Michael Clarke’s Australian side.
Clarke admitted his players were fatigued after their 66-run win in their ODI clash with Afghanistan in Sharjah on Sunday.
“The opposition are licking their wounds a little bit from recent performances (Australia had a 4-0 loss to England last month),” Whatmore said on Sunday.
“They’ve had some injuries (to vice-captain Shane Watson) and they’ve had a retirement (Brett Lee).
“They’ve had results not go their way, so we’re hoping to continue that form. But we’re also aware that they can come back pretty sharply and pretty hard to try to reverse that trend.
“They’ve got a little bit of inexperience.
“It’s okay to say that they have had some experience in these conditions. A lot of the (Australian) boys have played in India in the IPL. They’ve experienced the heat.
“(But) 50-over matches is a little bit different to 20-over games. It’ll be a test – there’s no question about the heat.”
Pakistan vice-captain Mohammad Hafeez says the late-night timing of the series, with a 6pm start (local time), will require some adjustment.
“As professionals, we are ready to play and, although the timings are odd … we will manage once the series gets underway,” Hafeez said.
Hafeez is part of three-man spin attack including Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi.
“Our spinners got some success here against Sri Lanka and England with Ajmal, being one of the best in the world, and Afridi, so we have got good spinners for the conditions and hopefully they do well again,” Hafeez said.
Pakistan, who have left out paceman Umar Gul and experienced batsman Younis Khan, have lost their past two series to England and Sri Lanka.
They’re playing their home series on neutral venues because of ongoing security issues in Pakistan.
Pakistan have an 8-0 record in their past eight ODI games in Sharjah.
“The Pakistan attack, I wouldn’t say it revolves around spin but it’s a fairly decent component of our attack,” Whatmore said.
Australia won a five-match ODI series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE in 2009 by a margin of 3-2.
The upcoming series series will be played in Sharjah on Tuesday, Abu Dhabi on Friday and back at Sharjah on September 3.
