Pakistan’s cricket team’s assistant coach, Azhar Mahmood, is disappointed with the Rawalpindi pitches. In the first Test between Pakistan vs Bangladesh, after the first innings, Bangladesh took a lead of 94 runs on the fourth day. The team was all out for 565 runs in the first innings. By the end of Saturday’s play, Pakistan’s score is 23/1, with Abdullah Shafiq unbeaten on 12 and Shan Masood unbeaten on 9 runs. Now, Pakistan has only one day to play, and it’s close to impossible for the team to win this Test match.
Azhar seemed frustrated with the use of bowlers in the team. “We wanted Aamer Jamal in our team; he provides the balance for us. We will see how this pitch behaves in the second Test now, but this is not the type of pitch we demanded,” Azhar said.
Pakistan’s fast-bowling all-rounder, Aamer Jamal, missed the two-Test series against Bangladesh due to a back injury. Many reports speculate that he was snubbed for the series.
Hope for win is gone
Azhar seemed frustrated after the fourth day. He also believes that there’s no way Pakistan can win the match now. “We cannot win this Test match now. We have to bat really well tomorrow to save this Test match against Bangladesh,” Azhar added.
No Spinner in the Game
Pakistan’s first Test also saw no full-time spinner in the playing XI; instead, the team went with four seamers, but it did not work out. Azhar Mahmood, after day three, revealed the reason why Pakistan opted for four specialist seamers instead of a spinner. “The reason we didn’t play a spinner was because there was grass on the pitch, and we thought it would favour the seamers. We were hoping for that. But the three hours the pitch was exposed to the sun before the game started on the first day may have made a difference. The wicket dried out; we didn’t think it would dry out so quickly, and that made it play differently,” said Azhar.
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