My dream wicket is Babar Azam: Shoriful

Bangladesh pacer Shoriful Islam has his sights set on the prized wicket of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.  

The two sides will face off in the first of the two-match Test series in Rawalpindi starting on August 21.

Shoriful, Bangladesh’s leading pacer in recent years, acknowledged the batting pedigree of Pakistan’s batting lineup starring Babar who the left-arm pacer deemed as the most challenging to dismiss.

“They are world-class batters but we have a good bowling attack and need to fight back. It’s hard for us because it’s their home ground,” Shoriful said after training in Lahore on Friday.

“Babar is the toughest batter for us and we need to get him out early. My dream wicket is Babar. Last year, I played in the Lanka Premier League with him and he’s a nice man also.”

Rawalpindi, the venue for the first Test is traditionally a batter’s paradise and pacers have the bulk of the responsibility to make the difference at the bowling front.

Shoriful said that the wicket might bring further assistance for the pacers with a layering of grass being left on the surface.

I haven’t seen Rawalpindi’s wicket yet, but I heard that they put in grass for fast bowlers. We expected some grass and every fast bowler likes it because of the little bit of seam movement it aids. That’s a good thing for us,” he said.