Fanning the flames: Pakistan take extreme measures to prepare spin-friendly Rawalpindi pitch for England Test

Hosts use giant fans and heaters to dry up surface for third Test

Pakistan spinner Sajid Khan, right, and assistant coach Azhar Mahmood inspect the pitch during practice ahead of the third Test against England in Rawalpindi. AFP

Pakistan have once again turned to heavy machinery as they aim to prepare a spin friendly surface in Rawalpindi for the deciding third Test against England that starts on Thursday.

In the build-up to the third Test, ground staff in Rawalpindi placed giant fans and heaters on either sides of the pitch to ensure the surface dried out as much as possible.

They used a similar tactic in the previous match where the hosts levelled the series on a re-used surface in Multan that they further dried out with large fans stationed at each end.

The tactic worked as spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan shared all 20 wickets in a 152-run win.

On Monday, Pakistan trained with just the two oversized fans remaining on an uncovered square.

It is a strategy fraught with danger as it would require winning the toss and batting first, since the pitch is likely to get more difficult to bat on with each passing day.

What is certain, however, is that spin will once again be key. Pakistan spinners Sajid and Noman proved deadly towards end of the second Test and will be expected to carry the bulk of the bowling load in an attack that will be spin heavy.

England have decided to pick an additional spinner in the form of Rehan Ahmed for the decider. But even so, left-arm spinner Jack Leach will be the main man once again.

Up until recently, Leach found himself pushed down the pecking order following the rise of young spinners Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir. However, in Pakistan, Leach has proved that experience matters when it comes to spin.

Leach lost his first-choice spot to Somerset colleague Bashir earlier this year. But in the first two Tests in Multan, Leach has bowled significantly better, picking up 14 wickets at 26.50 compared to Bashir's record of six scalps at 51.16. He is the only bowler from either side to bowl more than 100 overs so far.

However, regaining his spot as the number one spinner is not the priority for Leach.

"For me it's all about the team. I'm maybe at an age where that's all that really matters to me," the 33 year old said.

"They haven't said either way and, for me, that's not important at the moment. It's all about coming out here and trying to contribute. Whether you're playing as that first or second spinner, it doesn't matter.

"You're both working together and trying to do well for the team. That [pecking order] is not really in my thoughts. I don't know whether that will ever happen for me but that's not the most important thing.

"Whereas before it was maybe 'I just want wickets, I need wickets', maybe it's a slightly different mindset now."

Leach revealed his time away from the England team due to knee injury and subsequent demotion allowed him to work on his craft and fight his way back in the team.

"I was disappointed but I felt very clear on what I needed to do: my goal for the summer was to just enjoy the game of cricket and try to do my best for whoever I was playing for," he said.

"When you have those kind of setbacks – the injuries I had in India – another one is not too bad to deal with. [I wanted] to really enjoy my cricket with Somerset and learn to love the game a bit more again.

"I just felt like I needed to rediscover that kid-like mentality of why you play the game. You have that on the journey up to playing for England, that nothing-to-lose mentality. Then it's, 'I'm here now, I want to keep that'.