Misbah hopeful Pakistan can expose Steve Smith's "blind spot" as Australia Test series looms

Central to the tourists' hopes of claiming a first-ever series victory Down Under will be extracting the hosts' star batsman

Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq believes bowling with discipline will be enough to counter the threat of Steve Smith during the upcoming Test series against Australia.

Thirty-year-old Smith faces his first home series in the longest format since being banned for 12 months for his part in the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town in March 2018.

He returned to the format with a vengeance during the Ashes, scoring 774 runs across his four appearances, ending with an average of 110.57 as Australia kept the urn from the grasp of England.

Smith is again expected to be key to Australia's hopes of extending their unbeaten home record in Test series against Pakistan and has begun the summer well, scoring two centuries in five innings for New South Wales.

Amid that run Smith hit form in the T20s against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, scoring half-centuries against each opponent.

Misbah is well-aware that extracting the No.1 batsman in the ICC rankings will be key to prevailing in the two-Test series starting on Thursday and has urged his battery of bowlers - which includes Mohammad Abbas, Muhammad Musa and teenager Naseem Shah - to hold their nerve.

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"As far as Steve Smith goes, there's a blind spot for every top batsman in the world; as a bowler you're always interested in pitching the ball there," the head coach and chief-selector said.

"It's important that we bowl with consistency there. Our bowlers are executing the plans very well right now, and hopefully, we'll be able to build that kind of pressure and stay disciplined especially early in the innings. 

"No matter how good a batsman is batting, it's about consistency and bowling the maximum balls in those areas that build pressure and the batsman respects you, and you force him to make a mistake.

"All the batsmen you talk to, any batsman in the world, that's the area where you have to defend a ball, and that is a six-to-eight-meter spot where you have to play the top of off stump. That's the area from where if it's happening then that creates a great chance. Even if it's not happening, you have less chances to do anything with the ball.

"So it's about consistency, and top players in the world, if you miss those areas, that special length and line, then they are good enough to just cash in on that. So you have to be very, very disciplined, just keep the ball there, and if it's happening you are already in the game."

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