But there was turn from the outset this morning once England turned to Monty Panesar, and then Graeme Swann.
Panesar was called into the action first, for the 10th over, in his 40th Test and his first since the start of the 2009 Ashes in Cardiff.
Despite a nervy start as he, like Swann, appeared to drop short too often in his early overs, it was evident almost immediately both would be in the game if they could get it right.
The key was to find a suitable length on a slow surface nonetheless already responsive to their skills.
Ironically, both Swann and Panesar struck with deliveries which did not turn - but batsman error stemmed from doubts sown by spin.
Swann had beaten Taufeeq Umar with turn and bounce past the outside edge on the front-foot defence before the left-hander shouldered arms in the same over and was bowled off-stump.
Panesar dropped Mohammad Hafeez, a sharp return catch low to his left. But that was irrelevant after the very next ball went on with the arm and bowled the same batsman middle-and-leg on the back foot.
England's decision to pick two spinners and just two frontline seamers, as they try to get back in this three-match series following their hammering in Dubai, was therefore already looking sound.
But Broad proved his worth by taking two wickets for two runs, again both bowled, in 13 balls soon after lunch.
They were close to action replays too, the ball snaking back into Younus Khan and then Azhar Ali - bowling the former off his pads as he shaped to drive and the latter through the gate.
The second success came with an especially good delivery which offered to swing away before jagging back just enough.
Two new batsmen therefore joined forces with just one run between them.
Misbah's response was to hit Panesar for successive sixes from the crease, and Shafiq also cleared the ropes when he went up the wicket to the slow left-armer.
There was much earnest defence between the big shots, though, as Pakistan's fifth-wicket pair adopted a necessarily patient approach.
They also had a moment of fortune each.
Shafiq got only a thin inside-edge to save himself when he was up the wicket again and went through with another attempted big hit at Swann.
Then, on 30, Misbah edged Panesar just wide of slip - where James Anderson was unable to react quickly enough.