Settled line-ups are for winners: Drop O'Keefe and Marsh

Australia must make bold selections if they are to rebound from their thumping by Pakistan and level the series in the second Test starting on Thursday.

After being embarrassed by a galvanised Pakistan outfit at Dubai, Australia need to be aggressive and select two players who could add vitality to the side in reverse-swing specialist Mitchell Starc and mercurial all-rounder Glenn Maxwell.

As I argued on Sunday Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe were so ineffective against Pakistan that Australia should not play both spinners at Abu Dhabi.

It would be a harsh decision to drop the two debutants O’Keefe and Mitch Marsh, neither of whom played terribly in the first Test.

It would also be generous to Lyon and number three Alex Doolan, who laboured in Dubai. Lyon bowled too short for much of the match but deserves to keep his place based on his admirable performances for the side over the past year.

Doolan will be very lucky if he holds his spot after having a horror Test. Aside from having no impact with the bat he also turfed a chance of the bowling of Lyon which allowed Asad Shafiq to score another 80 runs.

Doolan hit an unbeaten hundred in Australia’s warm-up match against Pakistan A and reportedly played spin adeptly on a pitch which was similar to the Dubai deck on which he floundered.

The Tasmanian looked flustered and bereft of confidence in the first Test, despite his ideal preparation. In particular he appeared flummoxed by Pakistan’s tweakers from whom he made just two runs off 22 balls faced across the match.

At 29 years old, and with an uninspiring first-class record, this could well be Doolan’s only shot at Test cricket. The selectors should give him one last match to prove himself. If he fails in Abu Dhabi – he may not even get that chance – he has to be sent back to Shield cricket and replaced by either Phil Hughes or Usman Khawaja.

More immediately, to address Australia’s batting woes they should draft in the belligerent Maxwell, who is nimble and assertive against spin.

The only Australian batsmen who prospered with the bat in this Test were the ones who are naturally aggressive when opposed to tweakers. David Warner, Steve Smith and Mitch Johnson are prepared to take on the slow bowlers in an effort to prevent them from getting into a comfortable rhythm.

On Asian decks, if a batsman plays spin negatively and from the crease they become a sitting duck. Eventually, one delivery will do something unexpected – it will leap from a foothole, or turn square or skid on.

It was this type of natural variation which caused many of Australia’s dismissals in the first Test. The Pakistan batsmen countered this issue against Australia’s spinners by regularly getting to the pitch of the ball by using their feet or employing the sweep shot.

Maxwell’s commanding play against spin is what earned him a spot on this tour. With Australia needing a radical turnaround to level the series it is time to unleash him and Starc.

Like Maxwell, the tall left-arm quick is an attacking player. He seeks wickets as a priority. After taking 12 wickets for 740 runs in the first Test, Australia need to field their most aggressive attack.

Maxwell lacks control as a bowler and can be expensive. He is, however, a natural wicket-taker as we saw in India last year when he took seven wickets from just 41 overs bowled across his two Tests. He gets a lot of revs on the ball and loops his deliveries tantalisingly. In Asian conditions he looks more likely to make breakthroughs than Marsh, whose medium-fast bowling was accurate but innocuous on debut.

Starc’s ability to swing the new ball back into Pakistan’s right handers at pace would also be valuable. Of even greater value would be his mastery of reverse swing.

Similar to Johnson, Starc is able to reverse the old ball away from the right handers and is particularly threatening when doing so from around the wicket.

The pitch at Abu Dhabi is expected to be similarly parched and slow. In such circumstances reverse swing will be crucial. Starc and Maxwell offer Australia their best hope of leveling the series.