The India cricket team‘s humiliating whitewash to New Zealand is showing the effects. From being labelled ‘invincible’ at home to being called ‘spin fearers’. Legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram feels that Pakistan can beat India on spinning wickets if a Test series is held between the two arch-rivals.
India fear spinning tracks now?
During the Australia vs Pakistan 1st ODI, Akram was commentating alongside Michael Vaughan. The former England skipper quipped during the first innings, “I would want to see a Test series between India and Pakistan.” Akram agreed, saying, “It will be massive. It will be good for the game for two cricket crazy nations.”
The conversation in the booth continued as Vaughan claimed that “Pakistan can now beat India on the turners.” Akram doubled down on the comment, adding, “Pakistan have a chance to beat India in Tests now on a spinning track. They have been hammered by New Zealand 3-0 at home.”
Why did Wasim Akram say that?
The comment is two-part. The first is, of course, derived from Team India’s poor performance against New Zealand, where they lost two of the three matches on turning pitches. The second is coming from Pakistan beating England at home 2-1, despite going 0-1 down. Pakistan had made a conscious decision to play on spinning pitches, much like India, but won their matches, unlike India.
The pitches in Pakistan have been placid for the last couple of years, where even good bowlers have struggled. This is unlike India, where the pitches have been called lotteries.
The perfect example of this is what Mitchell Santner did in Pune. Forget Test cricket; the left-arm spinner averages nearly 40 with the ball in first-class cricket. No one’s questioning that Santner bowled incredibly, but that performance was entirely pitch-dependent. Before coming to India, he played two Tests in Sri Lanka, taking just 1 wicket in 2 matches, and in total, he has played just 29 Tests for New Zealand in 9 years.
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