The prospect of a first Test appearance in three years for Nottinghamshire’s Samit Patel looks to be edging closer after Mark Wood was ruled out due to an ankle injury.
The third and final match of England’s series against Pakistan gets underway in Sharjah on Sunday with the visitors needing victory to avoid a series defeat.
England are keen to manage the workload of Wood, who secured England’s Ashes victory by scattering the stumps of Nathan Lyon at Trent Bridge, owing to a chronic ankle injury.
Sharjah was earmarked by the England management in advance as the venue at which a trio of spinners would provide the most appropriate balance for the conditions.
As the third spinner on tour having taken his place in the squad following an injury to Zafar Ansari, Patel - who took 30 first class wickets in 2015 at an average of 31.46 and conceded runs at a frugal 2.95 runs per over - is therefore very much in the frame for selection.
It’s a move that would lengthen England’s batting to remarkable proportions, with a possibility of Patel and Adil Rashid - with 9,291 (at 37.3) and 5,751 (at 35.5) first class runs respectively, occupying numbers eight and nine in the order.
Alternatively, like-for-like fast bowling replacements for Wood are also available in hit-the-deck option Liam Plunkett and in Sussex’s Chris Jordan, who is well versed in reverse-swing and whose bucket hands would sure-up the England slip cordon.
England Coach Trevor Bayliss, perhaps wary of declaring his selection hand too early, has so far been non-comittal regarding the likely balance of his side.
"Our plan, before seeing the pitch, was that we might go with three spinners,” said the former New South Wales, Sri Lanka, Sydney Sixers and Kolkata Knight Riders supremo.
"I think New Zealand and Pakistan both played three spinners in their series here last year, so that is an option I suppose.
"But the one thing that could go against that is that our pace bowling has been outstanding. As a quartet of pace bowlers, it's been excellent.
"So, on the one hand, you might want a bit of extra spin but, on the other hand, you're then taking away from your strength in your bowling on this tour. So we've got to sit down and analyse that and make a decision."
Bayliss has all but confirmed James Taylor’s place in the middle-order after praising the Nottinghamshire man’s credentials for the berth in the aftermath of defeat in Dubai, and by suggesting that it would be a show of mercy to relieve Jos Buttler of his place in the side in the short-term.
Jonny Bairstow is, therefore, expected to take the gloves and could drop to seven in the order, making way for Taylor to slot in at number five.
A late Bayliss change-of-heart would be required regarding Moeen Ali’s place at the top of the order if Alex Hales is to get the nod.
Hales need not, however, be disheartened as, should the Ali experiment fail again in Sharjah having so far delivered 48 runs at an average of 12, the Nottinghamshire man would be in pole position to take on the role in South Africa.
His Outlaws teammate Stuart Broad hasn’t missed a Test since the third match in India three years ago - that’s 34 successive appearances - and will again share the new ball with James Anderson.
Despite the fine form of Wahab Riaz, who was man of the match in Dubai after ripping out England’s middle-order en route to first innings figures of 4-66, Pakistan’s new ball pairing is far less clear cut.
Imran Khan and Rahat Ali both played the opening Test in Abu Dhabi after an extra spinner couldn’t be summoned in time when Yasir Shah suffered a back spasm.
Rahat then found himself on the sidelines in Dubai as Shah returned, but the left-armer could earn a reprieve on Sunday after Imran split the webbing on a finger during practice.
Misbah-ul-Haq’s men could instead opt to further bolster their spin stocks with the selection of Bilal Asif, the right arm off-break bowler whose action was recently cleared following testing.
Such a move would, however, place a heavy burden on Riaz who has already clocked-up a gruelling 83 overs during the series to date.
There’s much to mull over, therefore, for captain Misbah-ul-Haq who - as well as selecting the right team and hoping to win a third successive important toss - is also considering his own future.
Having been requested by the Pakistan Cricket Board to play-on beyond his 42nd birthday by leading the side on tour in England and Australia during the next 12 months, the experienced skipper admits he’s finding it hard to come to a decision.
"I have been considering so many factors as it's a very hard decision, in fact one of the toughest ones to take," he said.
"So in the next one-and-a-half months I will be analysing myself as to how far I can go.
“I will see how much I can contribute for the team, I will see if my passion remains the same or I start losing interest in the game.
“Sometimes it's not about fitness, it's about how much interest you have in the game and I don't want to be a liability.”
Having averaged 56.85 in his 41 matches as Test captain, of which he has won a Pakistan record of 19, the numbers suggest Misbah is anything but.
With star turn leg-spinner Shah likely to be even more deadly in Sharjah having spent time working with Shane Warne, the captain could well have clocked up a personal haul of 20 victories come the conclusion of five more attritional days of hot weather cricket.
England - with Broad, Taylor and perhaps Patel to the fore - must find a way to shut out Shah, repel Riaz, outthink Misbah and somehow collect the 20 wickets they need for victory.
England are returning to the scene of their Ashes triumph in 2016 for Royal London One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Don't miss the opportunity to watch some of the best players in the world go toe-to-toe in the unique surroundings of Trent Bridge and secure your seats now.