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today.
The hosts have made just one change to the team that beat Bangladesh last month with Greg Lamb coming in for injured fellow all-rounder Elton Chigumbura.
After a six-year absence from the real cricket, Zimbabwe returned to the main arena last month with a one-off Test against Bangladesh and won by 130 runs. But the manner in which Bangladesh, who had been on a long break before flying to Harare, applied themselves left a lot to be desired and it actually took some gloss off Zimbabwe’s victory. While Zimbabwe deserved credit for a job well done, it seemed the match at Harare Sports Club generated more questions on Bangladesh’s commitment than answers on the hosts’ strength after the lengthy self-imposed exile.

Generally the wicket is flat, making it difficult for seamers to take wickets while aiding spinners later on. The quick flattening of the wicket means the team that bats first will have an edge if the top order performs.
Zimbabwe’s batting has been a problem for a while now and the failure to spend time on the crease or rebuild an innings has been their biggest undoing in the shorter versions of the game.

It might be a crisis in Test cricket where competitive teams should take the game into the final day.
Opener Vusi Sibanda keeps showing his potential but he is still battling to build impressive starts into massive scores. Critics believe he lacks the patience that forms a part of a great batsman. Captain Brendan Taylor also has the makes of a reputable top-order batsman and scored a century in the win over Bangladesh. Sadly for Zimbabwe, there has not been a match in which all the key batsmen get their act together and score runs.

However, assistant coach Steve Mangongo believes the core members of the team are starting to take responsibilities.
“The boys are ready for the showdown. They know what is expected of them and they know very well that Pakistan are not Bangladesh.

” . . . the core guys like Vusi, Hamilton, Taylor and Taibu are now taking responsibilities. It’s something we’ve spoken about and they know they have to lead the way, build partnerships and bat through,” he said.

Statistics will show that Misbah-ul-Haq is yet to lose a Test series as captain after drawn series against South Africa and West Indies, and victory against New Zealand.
Sadly for Zimbabwe, all this was achieved in away tours. Worryingly for the Zimbabwe bowlers, Younis Khan is the fifth-highest run-getter in Pakistan’s Test history with 5617 runs.

He was quoted saying he will use the match to help the new blood:
“I am just going to try all the time to show them (the youngsters) the way, especially in Test cricket. When you are young, you may make some mistakes so my aim is to help them.

“I will be playing for another two or three years. So, I want to show them (the youngsters) how to be able to score 500 or 600 in a Test match,” he said.
PROBABLE TEAMS (in batting order)
Pakistan: 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Adnan Akmal (wk), 8 Junaid Khan, 9 Saeed Ajmal, 10 Sohail Tanvir, 11 Sohail Khan
Zimbabwe: 1 Tino Mawoyo, 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Hamilton Masakadza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt), 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 7 Greg Lamb, 8 Raymond Price, 9 Kyle Jarvis, 10 Chris Mpofu, 11 Brian Vitori