With four of its most senior professionals sitting out this important 'home from home' rubber against Australia, Pakistan go into tomorrow's first Test seriously impaired in terms of resources. But if skipper Waqar Younis is to be believed, his young wards are all charged up to pick up the Aussie gauntlet, making up for their lack of experience with the zest and vigour of youth, and a grim resolve to make a fist of it.

"You will see a spark on the field, that is something I promise you", said Younis to a clutch of cricket scribes in the lobby of the team hotel. "We had to rely on a bunch of youngsters eventually. It has only happened a bit sooner. But maybe not soon enough; maybe we should have tried it earlier than this.

"I'm relishing the pressure and the challenge. The Aussies are very very good, but we will try and match them. Our bowling is still good enough to take on all comers, and I'm not too desolate about batting either. There is Younis Khan (the new vice-captain), and he is seriously good. Misbah-ul-Haq is in very fine nick, and at the top of the order Taufeeq Umar is shaping well too."

Younis is counting on the stronger parts of the whole to deliver, and in this, with an unreliable and largely untried upper and middle order, it will be of great importance that all-rounders Abdul Razzaq and Rashid Latif deliver with the willow as well.

None of the young guns making comebacks - Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal and speedster Mohammad Zahid - are completely new to big time cricket. Discarded after a taste of the big league, they should be hungry to take advantage of this opportunity and cement their places in the side. But whether their hunger translates into sizable contributions remains to be seen.

The morale of the team, said Younis, was far better than before. "The PCB Chairman, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia was here for the ICC meetings and we had two sessions with him and this had an affect on everyone," he said.

On a square that is green but hard, the experts here believe that the wicket will offer purchase to the spinners. With Pakistan likely to go in with a full compliment of five bowlers, it is likely that Saqlain Mushtaq and Danish Kaneria will bowl in tandem in long spells. Younis didn't divulge what bowling combination he would prefer, saying that Pakistan might field a pace quartet instead of three-two pace-spin mix.

"Mohammad Sami is bowling very well", he said, but it seems unlikely that Pakistan will go in with four pacers in the hot and humid conditions. That means that Zahid's comeback, although he looks lean and hungry, would be put off till at least Sharjah, the venue for the second and third Tests.

Of crucial importance will be the form of Saqlain and Kaneria against Australia's captain, Steve Waugh. Coming back to Test cricket after a six-month hiatus, with his and twin brother Mark's careers on the line, Waugh has seen his team undone by spin on the sub-continent, most recently in the Champions Trophy semi-final against Sri Lanka, though the memory of Harbhajan Singh demolishing them in the 2000-2001 series in India won't be too distant either.

Judging by his demeanor, Waugh looked anything but relaxed, but talking to reporters here he said that captaincy was all about pressure and how one coped with it.

Referring to Younis' statement that since it was Pakistan's 'home' series, they should have a say on the type of surface the Test is held, Waugh said that it was not how cricket should be played. Younis reacted with a raised eyebrow, a hint of a smile and a shrug. Hosts decide the surface to suit their strengths all over the world, including the Antipodes.

This minor row reveals cricket at the highest level to be a cut-throat business, with no quarter given. So should it be. If the Pakistanis take this message on board, perhaps they will be less vulnerable than they tend to be due to their own unpredictability.

© CricInfo Ltd.