Pakistan’s New Cricket at Home Strategy Yields All 60 Wickets for Spinners in Last Three Matches

Mon Jan 20 2025
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Key points

  • Pakistan’s strategy produces results
  • No one could face Sajid Khan, Noman Ali
  • Skipper dismisses concerns over dissatisfaction of his batters

ISLAMABAD:  Pakistan have shifted their focus to adopting spin bowling as their primary strategy proven by spin taking all 60 wickets in the three home Tests after losing the first Test to England on a flat surface.

According to Cricinfo, Pakistan skipper Shan Masood put up a forceful defence of Pakistan’s decision to produce a pitch that was heavily spin-friendly.

After the hosts wrapped up a 127-run victory in the shortest-ever Test to produce a result on Pakistani soil, much of Masood’s press conference was dominated by talking about why the soil in question was quite as dry and brittle as it was.

He said “We will do what we need to take 20 wickets and win the game. We don’t even play domestic cricket in these conditions. It’s a new thing for us as well. We changed it during the England series because we wanted our team to win.”

Individual milestones

He said that they should laud the hard work of their bowlers, who got them 20 wickets consistently.

Cricinfo reported that every surface has produced the effect as well as result, Pakistan were after. Sajid Khan and Noman Ali have had little trouble claiming 20 wickets; none of the 60 opposition scalps have fallen to seam bowlers since. And each of those three matches have produced convincing Pakistan wins.

Shan Masood said that the wins were not an inevitability, but a consequence of his team playing good cricket across all departments in each match.

He said that Pakistani batters batted better than West Indies, and better than England’s batters in October. The skipper added that if the conditions are flat, taking 20 wickets is hard, saying they have sacrificed individual milestones for team results.

He dismissed any concerns over the dissatisfaction of his fellow batters about these playing conditions and dispelled fears over the redundancy of Pakistan’s Test fast bowling.

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