Abbas aims to break legendary Waqar's record

Mohammad Abbas could become the joint-fastest Pakistan bowler to 50 Test wickets.

Australian debutant Travis Head couldn't stop admiring Mohammad Abbas's accuracy and his ability to bowl reverse swing after the Pakistan fast bowler had put the Australian batsmen in all sorts of trouble in first Test at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

"He's bowled extremely well. Obviously a little bit different conditions (here) but his reverse swing bowling is class," Head said at the press conference after Abbas took three wickets in seven balls to spark Australia's latest collapse in Asian conditions.

"He's always putting pressure on you. He swung the ball away, he swung the ball in. he asks questions and didn't leave the stumps. It was quite difficult to score, over the last few days when he's bowled we've seen the game stop a fair bit and the scoreboard shut down. That becomes pressure in itself."

For Abbas, who has seven wickets in a Test where the rest of the pacers have struggled to make an impact, it's always about keeping it simple.

The unassuming right-arm pacer knows he doesn't have the speed to frighten the batsmen, so he just maintains a good line.

"I always try to bowl in the right areas. I thought that was the key to my bowling performance today as well," he said.

Lack of pace has never worried the 28-year-old bowler.

"Actually you should know your own strength. That's what I want to do. I want to try to take wickets with the new ball. But in these conditions, I focus on my line and length and not to give away too many runs. When the ball starts to reverse, I try to attack then. That's why I have been successful so far," he said.

"And if you talk about pace, there are about three-four pace bowlers in this match. My fastest ball here was 138.1 kmph and my average is 130. I am happy with my speed. But I want to keep on working on my fitness to become a better bowler."

One more wicket on Thursday will help Abbas, who is playing his ninth Test, become the joint-fastest Pakistani to 50 Test wickets with teammate Yasir Shah.

"Among the fast bowlers, Waqar (Younis) bhai, (Mohammad) Asif bhai, and Shabbir (Ahmed) were the fastest. They did it in 10 Tests. So my aim before the start of this match was to break that record. I need one more wicket. I will try my best to do that tomorrow," he said.

Does he also have ODI ambitions?

"As I said my first aim is to take 50 wickets in Test cricket. And I want to keep giving the kind of performance that helps the team win Test matches. After that my job is to try and perform, that I will keep doing. The selectors and team management when they like it, I will be available for them in one-dayers," he said.

Abbas then revealed how his county stint with Leicestershire prepared him for the Test series against Australia in the UAE.

"It really helped because there was a heat wave in England when I played county cricket. That helped me get reverse swing," he said.

"On the Leicestershire wicket, the ball keeps low on the fourth day. It's almost like wickets in Pakistan. So that helped me a lot as I got 50 wickets from 10 matches. I was in great form. I took 10 wickets in my last match. So my aim here was to continue the same form and help my country win."

rituraj@khaleejtimes.com