Senior pacer Peter Siddle has revealed that tackling the leg-spin of Yasir Shah will be Australia’s greatest obstacle when they take on Pakistan in a two-Test series in the UAE.
The 33-year-old was recently handed a recall to the Australia squad for the UAE tour as skipper Tim Paine and coach Justin Langer look to compensate the lack of leadership experience following the bans handed out to Steve Smith and David Warner.
The Australian veteran is under no doubt that spin will be Pakistan’s calling card in the series in the UAE.
“He’s (Yasir) going to play a big part. Spin bowling in this series is going to play a massive part,” Siddle told Reuters.
“I think it’s going to be a tough contest. He bowled well against us last series over here. He took a lot of wickets, so I think it’s going to be number one plan to keep him out. But he’s not the only one we’ve got to focus on as we get closer,” he added.
Siddle has not played a Test for Australia since 2016.
Siddle, who last played a Test for Australia in November, 2016, believes that the wickets in UAE could be livelier than usual when the two-match series gets underway on October 7 in Dubai.
“I think the last series we came here, the wicket was a bit more flat. It sort of took a few days to actually break up but this series it looks like it’s going to break up a lot earlier so spin is going to play a part,” Siddle stated.
With pacers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins ruled out of the series, Siddle is ready to lend his leadership experience to the bowling attack.
“From an outside point of view, the side probably in the last little bit maybe lacked a little bit of leadership,” he said.
“I think without having the captaincy or vice-captaincy or any of those terms, it’s just about being a leader in my own right, doing what I do, lead by example and just help out the young guys,” Siddle added.
