Pakistan’s Test skipper Azhar Ali has said he will be stressing on adaptability as international cricket heads into a new era following the coronavirus break.

“There are some areas where we have to adapt,” Azhar said in an interview with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). “In this weather, it is only the fast-bowlers who sweat so it was a challenge for us to shine the ball but that’s something which will change as the weather continues to get warm.”

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned players from shining the ball with saliva as part of the safety measures against the coronavirus.

He added that the regulations introduced to prevent the spread of the disease will have an affect on the over rate. “The most challenging thing, however, was that the bowlers had to put their sweaters and caps outside the boundary rope due to which managing the over rate was getting a bit difficult. Especially, in Yasir Shah’s case he fields in the circle but had to go all the way to the boundary to put his things but I am comfortable that we will adapt to these changes as we still have a two-day and two four-day matches to play.”

The batsman said that starting at full strength won’t be an easy task after the prolonged break. “We have to go step-by-step and I am very happy that the boys utilised their practice time of four days well,” he said. “No matter how much you practice, playing matches is always more beneficial. If you spend half of your practice’s time in scenario-based matches, it gives you a lot more confidence. Playing this scenario-based match was very important for us.”

Azhar went on to say that players are in good touch and have adapted well to the conditions, taking out the time to praise the batting trio of Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq and Abid Ali.

The Test skipper also backed fast-bowler Mohammad Abbas to deliver promising results due to his experience, adding that Naseem Shah bowled well in the intra-squad fixture.