On green-top wickets, pace bowlers can tend to overplay their cards. But then there is Mohammad Abbas, who prefers to keep it simple. Having looked like he learnt his lesson on day one of the opening Test, Ababs returned to shine on Day 2 with a five-wicket haul that helped the visitors bowl Bangladesh out for 413 in 117.1 overs after the hosts had resumed the day at 301 for 4.
On Day 1, Bangladesh batters Najmul Hossain and Mominul Haque handled Abbas with relative ease, with the former standing outside the crease while the latter negated his gentle pace by staying deep in the crease and playing him as late as possible.
Today, the right-arm pacer seemed to operate with a different method. He bowled short deliveries that may not have looked hostile given the pace he generates, but the angle he created, coupled with awkward bounce, was enough to trouble the batters.
Bangladesh's batters were further troubled by his swing and, in the process, lost their composure and gave away their wickets.
Abbas, who is acknowledged for his ability to maintain control while usually operating between 118-125kph, may never look threatening unless you face him in the middle. But by mixing in a dangerous angled-in delivery that skids through from a good length along with his conventional outswinger, he pulled the strings on the second day.
Pakistan batter Imam-ul-Haq feels pace does not matter as far as Abbas is concerned, considering his variations along with his line and length always give him an edge over opponents.
"The strength of Abbas is that he does not give you anything. To be honest, I have played against him and I have played with him. When we play county cricket, it is difficult to face him, especially on a green track where he always asks you questions again and again and hits the length in the right areas," Imam said after the game.
"If you see, he could not get wickets in his first spell, but the way he came back and was hitting the right areas with the green grass, we were sure that Abbas was going to come and play a vital role for us. That is his strength, that he always asks so many questions as a batsman," he said.
"Everybody knows how good he is and it really helps when you play so much of domestic cricket. He plays so much of county cricket and first-class cricket, so obviously we knew that the wicket will be like this and that is why Abbas comes to play and his role is very important for the team," he said.
Bangladesh senior assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin echoed the same sentiment.
"He doesn't give away his areas. He can consistently bowl in the same spot, and that's one of his strengths. He has done this before as well. Since there was a bit of movement on this wicket, he used it really well," said Salahuddin.
"Yesterday we handled it quite well. I think today our batting order was shorter, meaning we had fewer batters left, and maybe that's why they got through us easily. If Mushfiqur could have batted a bit longer, then I don't think there would have been too much disappointment," he added.
