Australia reached 116 for two on the rain-disrupted second day of the third Test against Pakistan on Thursday.

David Warner made 34 but he should have departed for 20 when Pakistan debutant Saim Ayub dropped a sitter in the slips, and was fortunate on 27 that his edge went between the slips and gully and ran to the boundary for four.

A bowling change for Pakistan did the trick with off-spinner Agha Salman coming on to remove Warner with his third ball, the Australian bamboozled by the spin and bounce and edging the delivery to Babar Azam in the cordon.

"Saim has been practicing slip-catching. I think there's a problem with the first slip position (laughs). When I was briefly off the field, Babar thought he'd move to second slip (with Saim at first). People who follow cricket know that more catches go toward second slip," Salman said in post-day press conference.

"Dropped catches are a part of the game. Australia also dropped catches, and it happens to anyone. There are no easy catches in the slips because you have very little time to react. We've also taken so many catches in the slips but no one talks about them," Salman added.

Addressing concerns about Babar Azam's poor form with the bat in the Australia series, Salman expressed confidence in the star batsman's abilities to bounce back.

"A bad patch can come upon any cricketer. After how much Babar Azam has performed for Pakistan, this little bad patch makes no difference. We're not concerned about his form, and he himself is aware of how to get out of these situations. The way that he's working on his batting, I think it's just a matter of time. Very soon you'll see a big hundred from him," Salman said.