McMillan wants ‘precise and clear’ plans for Yasir

DUBAI: With the deciding third Test against Pakistan to start on 3 December, Craig McMillan, the New Zealand batting coach, has asked for proper plans on the part of his batsmen.

The first of three Tests was a close affair, which went to New Zealand by four runs. But Yasir Shah, the champion Pakistan leg-spinner, picked up 14 wickets in the second Test to script a Pakistan win by an innings and 16 runs.On to the third Test now, and with Yasir emerging as the big threat for his team, McMillan has stressed on well-worked-out plans to deal with the situation.

“From a batting point of view, you just have to be so precise and clear with your batting plan, especially against Yasir Shah who was outstanding. He’s going to test you early on, he’s going to test that defence, so your defence has to be so tight, has to be so spot on, because if you make a mistake it’s pretty vital over here,” said McMillan.

New Zealand were bowled out for 90 in the first innings in Dubai, slipping from 50 for no loss, with Yasir returning 8-41. The batsmen did much better the second time around, scoring 311, as Yasir picked up 6-142. Tom Latham, Ross Taylor and Henry Nicholls hit half-centuries on that occasion.

“We saw, certainly in that second innings, some improvement, from the likes of Taylor and Nicholls and Latham, who batted a long time out there and showed what was possible,” pointed out McMillan.

“It didn’t happen in the first innings – it would have been a very different Test match if it had happened – but the guys are learning. We need to learn a bit quicker and get it right, I guess, in that first innings of the third Test.”Yasir’s returns – 14-184 – were the second-best in Pakistani Test history, only behind Imran Khan’s 14-116 against Sri Lanka in Lahore in 1982.

“Right up there, in terms of quality – the drop and the drift that he was able to generate, especially in that first innings, in that spell, was as good as I’ve seen. That was one of the things that made Shane Warne so difficult to face, that drift, and we saw that with a couple of dismissals that he bowled, that late drop and drift,” explained McMillan.“It just takes the bat out of line, so you have to take your hat off to him and say that it was an exceptional bowling spell.”