Daijiworld Media Network

Sharjah, Nov 1 : After England slumped to 193/7 on day 5, it looked like that Pakistan will cruise to a victory. However, the English bowlers fought back strongly with the bat and almost managed to salvage a draw from that precarious situation. While Rashid made 61, he was well supported by Broad and Wood. But, England will rue the fact that Wood and Rashid couldn't finish the job as both of them fell in quick succession, after staying together for almost 30 overs.

Pitch Report: 'It's a hot day but there is a bit of breeze blowing across. It's a dull looking surface, might have a bit of mositure, but it will dry out under the hot sun. The bounce will be low, it's a bat first wicket,' reckons Bazid Khan

Samit Patel is seen practicing on the new Sharjah deck. Are England going to play with three spinners? That will add more depth to the already lengthy batting line-up.

With Bilal Asif getting a clean chit from the ICC, Pakistan now have the choice of going into the game with three spinners. Imran Khan is out with a hand injury and that will surely tempt Misbah to play three spinners, but the final call will depend on how the pitch looks before the coin toss. Stay tuned for the team updates.

Both sides are expected to make a few changes, especially England. James Taylor is believed to be in the running to replace Jos Buttler, who has been struggling for form since the Ashes. Mark Wood is also out with an injury, Liam Plunkett or Samit Patel, one of them should play in Wood's place. With the Pakistani top-order not showing enough consistency, Azhar Ali, who wasn't in Dubai for the previous Test because of a family bereavement, will make a return to the playing XI. Shan Masood will probably sit out.

Preview:

The Abu Dhabi and Dubai cricket stadiums stand on the edge of the respective cities - visible from miles away, an ode to what throwing money at a venture can do. The facilities there are state-of-the-art, an extension of the cities themselves. They seem separated from the sand and nothingness beyond them, even if they are on course to become the centres for sporting megapolies.

Sharjah Cricket Stadium is none of those things, except perhaps that it too is an extension of the city. Once the home of all the glitz and glamour the subcontinent could offer - both on the pitch and in the boxes - it looks almost quaint in comparison to the first two venues. The facilities, despite upgrades a few years back are modest compared to what came before. The glitz and the glamour now resides permanently in Dubai.

But unlike nearly everything else in this part of the world, the ground has a history. A board at one end reminds all that the ground is the holder of a Guiness World Record. For a generation or two of Pakistani and Indian fans (especially the former), it was as much a home ground as any in their nations. Almost a fifth of all Pakistan-India ODIs have been played at this venue. Reputations were built here perhaps even more than back home. But much like idea of regular Pakistan-India matches, the golden years of the stadium are long gone.

But now it is ready to be reincarnated. From 2003 to 2010 it did not host a single ODI, since when it has hosted at least one every year. Test cricket came to it under inasupicious circumstances. In the aftermath of 9/11 and its aftershocks Pakistan, temporarily needed a refuge. They played four Tests in Sharjah in 2002, before their home became their actual home again.

Since Pakistan's return to the nomad life, Sharjah has taken a back seat to the other two venues. It has hosted just three Tests in Pakistan's five year sojourn in the desert. None should have had results, but two did. The first Test finished with Pakistan meandering to a draw on day five against Sri Lanka in 2011. Just over two years later, the same two teams played and it needed a late collapse from Sri Lanka and an extraordinary chase for Pakistan to somehow achieve a result. Later the same year, Pakistan fell to New Zealand and Brendon McCullum in a match deeply affected by the death of Philip Hughes.

And the matches indicate how different the pitch here has been compared to the other two grounds. That pitch, though, is no longer in use - one the recent iteration of Pakistan weren't exactly fans of. The flat deck that has defined Sharjah, across all formats, may no longer be there. The top layer of the soil has been replaced. And no one, not even the Paksitan captain, knows how it will behave.

'Like you, we also don't know much about the pitch because they have changed the pitch,' said Misbah. 'They've changed the upper layer so we'll have to see. We hope for the best; that it helps our bowlers and it spins.'

A hand injury suffered by Imran Khan, and the clearance of Bilal Asif by the ICC has meant that Pakistan have been pondering going in with three spinners, something they've been pondering since the start of the series. But that too looks unlikely, despite the different pitch, with the Pakistan captain saying, 'We've been thinking about playing three spinners but the pitch doesn't look like that sort of a turner where you can go in with three spinners so that's the thought at the moment, but let's see how it looks tomorrow.'

The return of Azhar Ali, and a stuttering top order, means that Pakistan will make at least two changes to the side that won in Dubai.

England are likely to make that many as well. The injury to Mark Wood made sure of one, and England's middle order - perhaps the only component which has been reminiscent of their 2012 tour - is likely to be changed with James Taylor likely to play.

A window into what might happen in the Third Test perhaps could be seen in the two warmup matches England played before the series started. But alas, no real conclusions were gathered there beyond the heat and the batsman friendly conditions. While their pacers, in particular, had success considering the conditions, the challenge they've faced since has been much different. Nothing from playing Pakistan 'A' could have prepared them for the chess matches that Younis and Misbah have played with them - and with no real backup leggie in the country, a fully fit Yasir Shah (who got eight wickets at what some describe as 70% fitness in Dubai) is bound to create problems.

Before all that though, Alistair Cook has to win a toss. He is due one, and perhaps that might be the change in fortune England require.
Teams:
England (From): Alastair Cook(c), Moeen Ali, Ian Bell, Joe Root, James Taylor, Jonathan Bairstow(w), Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson, Chris Jordan, Alex Hales, Samit Patel, Jos Buttler
Pakistan (From): Mohammad Hafeez, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq(c), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed(w), Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali, Bilal Asif, Fawad Alam, Ahmed Shehzad