Pakistan trounced the Windies by 127 runs inside three days. The first Test again highlighted the need to adopt a “horse for courses” strategy at home.
Pakistan had lost the formula between 2022 and 2024. The alchemy was found against England when umpire Aleem Dar suggested a recycle pitch should be used to befuddle the England team.
Pakistan used patio heaters and industrial fans to prepare the pitches and achieved the desired results.
No harm in it. As we say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Pakistan had not won 11 home Tests. We have been hearing that we do not have top-quality spinners. “When Ramiz Raja was at the helm, he openly admitted that a flat pitch was used at Rawalpindi stadium to blunt the Australian pace attack.
The same was done to stop the “Bazball” approach of England. As a result, Pakistan suffered their first-ever whitewash, a 3-0 defeat at the hands of England.
The situation worsened in early 2024 when Pakistan suffered its defeat against Bangladesh. A 2-0 whitewash against the neighbours was not enough. Pakistan used the same strategy of flat pitch in the first Test against England. As a result, Pakistan suffered an innings and 47-run defeat in the first Test in Multan. It was the Test number 11 that Pakistan failed to win at home since February 2021.
It prompted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)—the official governing body of cricket in Pakistan—to take drastic measures, dropping the out-of-form ace batter Babar Azam and fast bowling duo of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah.
A new selection panel was announced with former fast bowler Aaqib Javed and umpire Aleem Dar being drafted. On Dar’s suggestion a recycled pitch was used in Multan.
Resultantly, Pakistan won both the Tests and beat England 2-1 in the series.
The same ploy was used in the series against the West Indies. The Calypsos (the West Indian team)—known for their spirited approach to the game—succumbed to the spin of Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Abrar Ahmed.
There was criticism from some quarters on what Pakistan will do on away tours if they continue using such tricks because spin will not be the winning recipe on away tours. True, but you have to adopt a strategy as per the conditions, as per opponents.
Pakistan was not winning Tests at home and a team only becomes good if it wins home Tests. A win gives confidence. The series win against England not only gave confidence to the team but to the struggling skipper Shan Masood.
Very rightly Masood defended the spin-spiced pitches ploy. Pakistan must employ the same kind of pitch in the second Test. A 2-0 win will lift Pakistan to seventh position on the World Test Championship table. Seventh place is better than ninth or last.
After this win, PCB, its selection committee and the team management must start planning for the next cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-2027. In that cycle Pakistan will host South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. All these teams are well equipped in spin, so this spin-friendly pitch will only help Pakistan if their batters score big.
All these teams, especially Sri Lanka, have quality spinners and they play spin equally well.
PCB made the right decision by retaining Shan Masood as skipper of the Test team. It will give him time and confidence to build the team. It would be wise to have a separate set of players for white and red-ball teams.
Pakistan needs a few good fast bowlers for the longer format as well, who can bowl 140 kilometre per hour (kph) plus. They must be groomed through Pakistan Shaheen set up, which is the second string.
Pakistan finished sixth in the first WTC cycle (2019-2021) and seventh in the next (2021-2023). Pakistan is likely to finish in the lower tier in this cycle as well.
These finishes will hamper Pakistan’s progress. With India, Australia and England bent on splitting Test cricket into two tiers, Pakistan must raise their rankings to be in the top tier.
There is certainly the will, so there must be a way to lift Test cricket.
