Former welder Mohammad Abbas ready to turn his blow torch on Australia

Pakistan’s in-from-the-cold swing bowling pick for Adelaide does not bring glamour or speed. But 66 wickets at 18 in 14 Tests and a metronomic line and length will seriously test Australia under lights.

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They call him the Sialot-Not-So-Express and he is well named.

Such was the intensity of the push for Pakistan swingman Mohammad Abbas to play in Friday’s Test that you might sense he is a fire-breathing dragon who could burst through your television screen at any moment and start huffing and puffing in front of you.

In fact he will do nothing of the sort.

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Abbas does not have Shaoib Akhtar’s hair, Imran Khan’s swagger, Wasim Akram’s rapid fire run-up or Waqar Younis’ smoothness.

Mohammad Abbas terrorised Australia in the last series between the sides in the UAE.

Hailing from the industrial city of Sialot, Abbas is not a product of the famous Pakistani production line that churns out charismatic superstars.

He’s just a magnificently well-grooved craftsman who has mastered fast bowling’s most primary yet challenging skills … putting a ball on a line and length for over after over and hour after hour.

It might just work for him under lights at the Adelaide Oval.

Or he might find, like many medium pacers in Australia, that a lack of movement makes him vulnerable.

When he strides to the crease for his first ball and delivers it in the 130kph range some television watchers will ask “is that it?’’

Abbas ran the drinks at the Gabba, as Pakistan struggled for bowling control in his absence.

Yes. That’s it, all right. Military medium pace delivered on a dime, every time.

Sounds mundane but that is all he has had to be in a career which has netted him the stunning returns of 66 wickets at 18 apiece in 14 Tests.

Last time he faced Australia in Dubai, Abbas simply choked the life out of them with stunning series returns of 17 wickets at 10.

Abbas has never been one of the golden boys of Pakistan cricket having worked as a welder and in a leather factory on his route to a professional career.

His journey has made him tough and resourceful and Australia knows from experience it’s not as easy life when the former welder turns his blow torch in their direction.