The first Test featuring Pakistan and Australia, which finished in a dismal tie after 5 days of the play at the Rawalpindi Stadium, concluded at a foggy level to draw the match. The match generated a lot of attention because it was Team Australia’s first outing on Pakistani soil after 24 years. On the other hand, Spectators and experts were not delighted by the performance, since the bowling unit had no minimal support from the pitch. Here is all about the Pitch Conditions In Rawalpindi Stadium.
On Day 5 of the contest, Pakistan opening batters Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq hammered undefeated half-centuries. This demonstrates how nice the batting surface looked. Also, the pitch was dubbed “poor advertising” for Test cricket by the cricket community.
Former Pakistani Players Reactions on Home Pitch Conditions
Shahid Afridi, the former Pakistan all-rounder, is the newest to enter the heated argument. He believes the hosts put a great effort into not losing, which is why they created such a chasing course.
“They didn’t think about Australia, the bottom line was ‘we shouldn’t lose’. But in the next two Tests in Lahore and Karachi, they have to make good pitches. You have to take advantage of your home series, or else when you go to Australia, you’re going to struggle”, said Afridi.
“Our bowling strength is so good. Our fast bowlers can bowl out this Australian side. And it isn’t as if our batters cannot play the Aussie bowlers. Cricket has grown over the past many years, it is time we grow as well. If you want people to count you among the likes of South Africa, England, Australia, New Zealand, you need to stay positive,” said Afridi.
“I’ve been playing for long and I know it is there since the start (the combination of seven batters and four bowlers). Six genuine batsmen are enough in any team, then you have an all-rounder and bowlers. But we always play with this combination (7-4). This isn’t going to work. Our batsmen are in form. If you are making pitches like these, you will have to play bowlers or else these fast bowlers will be at the risk of injuries,” he further added.
Another former Pakistan batsman, Salman Butt slammed the PCB for not showing sufficient belief in their batsmen and failing to provide a batting-friendly track.
“Please tell me what’s wrong with Pakistan pitches. Pitches aren’t bad, it’s the brains that are rotten. The people who are at the helm of cricketing affairs..it’s their weakness in underestimating themselves that we cannot play. Imam is in the team since 2019. It’s 2022 now. You don’t have confidence in him?” Apart from him, Abdullah Shafique is coming into the team after scoring runs against Bangladesh and the PSL. This game was treated as a practice game,” he added.
And, Danish Kaneria, a former Pakistan spinner, criticized Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) president Ramiz Raja’s “lame” justification for the surface utilized in the 1st Test involving Australia & Pakistan.
“What Ramiz Raja said today was nothing but a lame excuse and has misled Pakistani fans with the same. He has lied and has betrayed the fans. It’s okay, he was busy with his son’s wedding. He attended the wedding and then saw there was a lot of noise surrounding the dead wicket. The Test grew a lot of eyeballs as Australia was touring Pakistan after these many years, but what wicket did they produce for that?” Kaneria said.
