Pak vs WI – Unfazed Jayden Seales delivers in spin-friendly Multan

On By Littum

Jayden Seales knew the deck was stacked against him, literally. Pakistan had spent the last few days working on that deck to make it, erecting a protective greenhouse and attempting to warm the Multan surface in chilly conditions using wedding-style heaters. The idea was to dry out the pitch and help the spinners get off to an early start. With the 23-year-old the only fast bowler from the opposition, it would have felt to him that the whole move was simply Operation Stop Jayden Seales.

Well, it failed. There’s only so much that can be done when the temperature drops into the single digits and fog surrounds the stadium, forcing the game to start four hours late. Seales knew his window to strike was narrow and he had little time to waste.

“We saw from the training sessions that the ball did a little bit when it was new,” he told a news conference after today’s game. “For me, I needed to try and get the best out of the new ball and put the ball in the right areas. And with the cooler conditions this afternoon, it did a little bit, and we succeeded.”

Seales had more of an active role in making sure it worked out than he takes credit for. With the spin working right from the start at the other end, he landed the ball on hard lengths and his height and pace ensured he drew enough bounce. But it was also his trickery with the wrists that guaranteed seam movement, especially in the dismissals of Kamran Ghulam and Babar Azam.

Having already dispatched debutant Mohammad Hurraira, he was shaping it away from Ghulam when he was driven through the off side for four and when the next one landed around a similar line, Ghulam felt confident enough to shoulder his arms . But this one dug in again and smashed into Ghulam’s thigh as HawkEye confirmed it would have clipped the bails.

“I just wanted to create pressure,” he said. “As a fast bowler in Asian countries you tend to want to make a big impact and you want to do well for the team. Spin naturally dominates in these conditions. So as a fast bowler I always wanted to get a wicket or stay in the game and it so happened that I got wickets for the team today.”

But the dismissal to remove Babar required a delivery to match the quality of the batter and Seales rose to the challenge. Babar came into this innings with three consecutive Test half-centuries amid murmurs he may be returning to form. But before his spell ended, Seales made sure he bowled the delivery to deal another bloody blow to Pakistan and leave them reeling.

“Being a fast bowler, I always wanted to get a wicket or be in the game and it so happened that I got wickets for the team today.”

Sells after opening day

He landed it on a length as Babar prepared to line up and defend. Ball tracking showed that the pitch sent it straight to the middle of his bat, but he got it to land perfectly on the seam to nibble away slightly and take the outside edge.

“I figured he was watching my hand a little bit so I just tried to deceive him and it just happened to pay off. I think as a bowling unit we did really well and we’ve just got to back it up up again tomorrow .I think spinners will come into the game a lot more at some point but I still think the spinners can dominate in this game.

But Seales has fond memories against Pakistan and having long odds against him doesn’t worry him much. It was against this opposition four years ago as a teenager playing his third Test that he secured his breakout performance in Jamaica, taking eight wickets before holding his nerve in a thrilling tenth-wicket stand to secure his side a one-wicket win. He was named player of the match.

While he knows his tactics may need to change here, his mentality obviously hasn’t. “I don’t really see it as pressure or anything like that (being the only seamer). For me as a player, (it) comes a lot more into the game and putting my hand up for the team and just trying to do our job, each when I’m called.

“In international cricket you expect the players to be good and you have to back yourself and match the players skill for skill and whoever is the best man on the day will win. And it happened that today I was the man for the team .”

Seales may undersell himself, but more importantly for the West Indies, he finds a way to deliver. And in conditions tailored to shut him out, few would argue he hasn’t done just that.

Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000