Pakistan lose Yasir Shah to injury, bat against England

Yasir Shah may become the latest casualty in Pakistan’s horrid build-up to the first England Test after the legspinner suffered a back injury during training on the eve of the Abu Dhabi match. The 29-year-old Yasir stumbled in his follow-through and apparently hurt his back. “And if we do manage to win it would be right up there”, he said.

There is still a glimmer of hope that Shah could front up against the English on the morrow but the team management aren’t taking any chances and have already sounded out left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar, as a precaution.

“It’s a huge task, we know that”, Anderson said.

Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik recovered from Pakistan’s early blow of losing Shan Masood to reach 82-1 at lunch on day one of the first Test against England in Abu Dhabi. “I want to play as much as possible… if I can play all three in this series, then that’ll be great”.

Malik played the last of his 32 Tests in 2010, also against England, before losing his place to youngsters Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. Pakistan have been forced to play in the UAE due to security fears at home but have never lost a series here, winning four and drawing three.

“I think they will be more prepared this time, they know what mistakes they did the last time they were here. So we have to be more focused and we need to really improve on our performances, we can not just take it easy because we have beaten them 3-0”, he said, according to Gulf Today. “The quality and talent that we’ve got in the side is easily a match for the side that came out here in 2012”.

Watch live online to see if England can carry its momentum from the summer’s dramatic Ashes victory into the Test series with Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. “As always, the day before a big series, we’re concentrating on matters which are important to us”, he said.

“He’s clearly a fantastic bowler who not many of us have faced in Test or four-day cricket, and he’s obviously had a good start to his Test career”.

With the first of three Tests starting on Tuesday, England are grappling with several intertwined selection issues, among which Bayliss conceded Jos Buttler is no longer a certainty to keep wicket as his travails with the bat continue.

Steven Finn has been ruled out of the first Test against Pakistan tomorrow with a foot injury that casts a doubt over the rest of his tour.

Captain Alastair Cook announced he will open the batting with Moeen Ali, spinner Adil Rashid makes his Test debut and James Anderson returns.

England may also drop Jonny Bairstow at No. 5 for the pint-sized James Taylor who is regarded as a better player of spin.