Shan eyes home advantage, Markram wary of spin conditions

Pakistan skipper says will learn from mistakes to give good results: South African stand-in captain Markram says Pakistan’s spin conditions a fair challenge

Published: 02:38 PM, 11 Oct, 2025
Sports, Cricket
Shan eyes home advantage, Markram wary of spin conditions
Caption: Pakistan and South African test skippers with trophy

Pakistan’s Test cricket captain Shan Masood and his South African counterparty Aiden Markram on Saturday shared their thoughts on the upcoming series, highlighting confidence, team balance, and key matchups during the pre-series press briefing held in Lahore, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Shan Masood said that although it was not possible to fix things overnight, still it would be his team’s endeavour to learn from its past mistakes and give good results in the series against South Africa, scheduled to get underway from tomorrow. 

Addressing a pre-match press conference along with Aiden Markram at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore, Shan Masood said that the team would try to win as many matches as possible by taking advantage of the home ground.

“It is our desire that every player should be ready for the series. That’s why we allowed players to play domestic cricket,” he said and added that a lot of work had been done on improving fielding skills.  

Shan further said that Sajid Khan was Pakistan’s main spinner. "Unfortunately, he suffered from flu.”

Shan was of the view that although it was not necessary to always score centuries, still contributions like 60 or 70 runs had also a great importance. 

Speaking on the occasion, Aiden Markram said that playing on spinner-friendly pitches in Pakistan would be a challenge. However, he said that the bowlers would try to take wickets.

Markram said home side Pakistan were well within their rights to prepare extreme turning wickets for their two-Test series, as they did last year to beat England.

Their 2-1 series win over England a year ago came after they had used a pair of giant windbreaks, two outsized fans and six patio heaters to accelerate the deterioration of the pitch and create a surface that offered spinners maximum turn and grip.

It was a successful ploy as they came back from losing the first Test to trump England in conditions that losing captain Ben Stokes called “pretty extreme”.

But Markram, who leads South Africa in place of injured skipper Temba Bavuma, said that was all part of the challenge. “We saw how things turned out in the English series,” he told newsmen.

“That was obviously Pakistan's way of trying to win, and it's completely fair, and we look forward to that challenge.”

South Africa had worked hard in preparing, he added, creating wickets with extreme spin to practise on at a training camp before their departure. “That's where most of the focus has been, naturally looking forward to the challenges that Pakistan pose in terms of spin-friendly tracks.

“As a team that's not exposed to those conditions, it's exciting for us and a great opportunity to get things right in these conditions. We're trying to put a lot of focus there, and ultimately put five days of good cricket together for the first Test.”

Besides Bavuma, South Africa must do without their lead spinner Keshav Maharaj, who misses the first Test as he recovers from a groin strain. “We’ll miss Kesh heaps,” Markram told reporters. “He's incredible, even when the ball doesn't spin, so it's a big loss for us but it's an opportunity for two or three other new spinners of ours to put their hand up and stake a claim, which is really exciting.”

Senuran Muthusamy and Simon Harmer, who last played a Test two years ago, are likely to be in the team.

Earlier, the trophy for the Pakistan-South Africa Test series was unveiled. 

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