ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Batting coach Toby Radford expects world-rated leg-spinner Yasir Shah to play another huge role in the in the decisive third Test and has warned West Indies’ batsmen against taking him lightly in the all-important contest starting here today.
With the Windsor Park track expected to assist the spinners, Radford said he expected Shah to be a handful, and urged the Windies batsmen to adopt the same approach against him as they did in the second Test in Barbados last week.
“He’s a world class performer and he’s often taken wickets around the world against every side on pitches that turn and we’ve certainly had a few pitches that spun in this series,” Radford told reporters here.
“He utilizes the rough very well – he’s got left-arm seamers that create rough – so he obviously, bowls into that a lot. We’ve got to play like we did in Barbados. Roston Chase was exceptional, Shai (Hope) the way be batted in that second innings was brilliant against him (Yasir) in particular.
“Again, we’ve got to knuckle down and do the same because I’m sure he’s going to bowl a lot of overs.”
Shah has been Pakistan’s main threat in the series. He took eight wickets in the first Test at Sabina Park last month to help set up his side’s seven-wicket victory and picked up a nine-wicket match haul in the second Test last week, even though Pakistan slid to a 106-run defeat.
He grabbed seven wickets in the second innings but failed to prevent West Indies carving out a big enough lead to put the visitors under pressure when they batted a second time.
Radford said it was important the Windies batsmen capitalized on scoring opportunities against Shah.
“We know that traditionally here it does get spin and bounce so I have no doubt he’s going to put a few overs in and it’s for us to combat that and when he’s loose to score off him, which is exactly what we did last week,” he stressed.
The Kensington Oval pitch for the Barbados Test came in for much criticism for its slow, low nature and the swiftness with which it deteriorated throughout the course of the contest.
And Radford said though the hosts were hoping for a quicker pitch at Windsor Park to help their faster bowlers, they were prepared to play on whatever surface was presented.
“There’s a little bit more grass on it. I wouldn’t necessarily say its live grass but there certainly more grass,” he noted.
“As I said, the pitch here traditionally turns and bounces and I think we’d love something with a little more pace and bounce in it against the Pakistani batters but if it turns out to be a pitch like the usual [Windsor Park] pitch with turn and bounce then that’s our job to play that and I’m sure we can cope with that.”
