This week's "Beyond the Boundary" previews the 2nd Test in the South Africa series and the challenges that Pakistan face after the disaster in Johannesburg.

By Waleed Saleem (10th February 2013)

Pakistan went to South Africa with high hopes of starting the tour on a high, but as witnessed by many the massacre caused by Dale Steyn not only crushed any such hopes, but also most probably left the visitors demoralised. In essence, it was more than a first Test match victory; it was also a mental victory for South Africa and one that Pakistan will find very difficult to overcome. 

The second Test is a crucial one for Pakistan. They need a positive result in order to stay alive in the series. A lot of fans have called for a whole range of changes, including squad, as well as team changes, but then again that’s the fickle nature of fans. All these changes are neither feasible or a good idea to start with. In essence, Pakistan has to go with the same team, while making only one or two changes in the starting line-up. 

One change that Pakistan definitely needs to make is to play Mohammad Irfan. Yes, there are fitness questions regarding him, however his height and the pitch at Cape Town will most definitely compliment each other. It might even be an idea to use him in short spells, to reduce the workload on him. 

Another idea might to play four fast bowlers and rest Ajmal. They could go with Tanvir Ahmed or Ehsan Adil, but I think Pakistan should stick with Rahat Ali and give him confidence. You just don’t drop a young player after a single match, although granted he didn’t look that impressive in the first Test. However, he should now be a bit more accustomed to the Test match atmosphere and more relaxed then in the first Test. 

In terms of batting Pakistan should go with the same batsmen, but should consider switching the order. Younis Khan hasn’t been in form lately and it may be worth toying with the idea of playing him lower down the order, perhaps with Misbah at 4 and Younis at 5 or 6. As for the openers, Pakistan should still back Hafeez and Jamshed to go out there and put on a good total. 

South Africa are probably going to go with an unchanged side, although they might consider playing a 4 man pace attack and play Kleinveldt instead of Peterson. In many ways I think he would be a greater challenge for Pakistan than Peterson would be. 

In terms of tactics, Pakistan has to play aggressive cricket, there are no two ways about it. They struggled in the first Test, mainly due to the defensive brand of cricket they displayed in the batting department. Yes, the South African pace bowlers rarely offer any bad balls to put away, but Pakistan must try and upset their rhythm. 

A rather worrying fact for Pakistan is that South Africa has not lost a single Test match in Cape Town in the last five years and Dale Steyn has been particularly impressive at this ground taking 53 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 20.98. Pakistan however, need to get past the negative thoughts that might play on their mind and go out there, keep it simple and play aggressive cricket. 

The XIs that I think both teams should select for the second Test:

South Africa: 

1. G Smith
2. A Petersen
3. H Amla
4. J Kallis
5. AB de Villiers
6. Faf du Plessis
7. D Elgar
8. V Philander
9. D Steyn
10. M Morkel
11. Kleinveldt

Pakistan: 

1. M Hafeez
2. N Jamshed
3. A Ali
4. Misbah
5. Asad Shafiq
6. Younis Khan
7. Sarfraz Ahmed
8. Umar Gul
9. Rahat Ali
10. M Irfan
11. Junaid Khan

Discuss!