Aaqib Javed’s bold claim on the pitches in Pakistan for future tests, saying that ‘pinning pitches are here to stay’.
Aaqib Javed’s bold claim on Pakistan pitches was on full flow as he made an impassioned defence for the recent spin-friendly pitches.
Aaqib stated that Pakistan might have been closer to reaching the World Test Championship (WTC) final if the choice to prepare such wickets had been made earlier, ahead of the second Test match against the West Indies in Multan. Speaking in public for the first time since taking over as the Test team’s temporary coach, he dismissed worries about his team’s approach and stated that he was still focused on winning Test matches.
“Why is it that if fast bowlers take wickets, [people say] Test cricket is moving forward, and if spinners take wickets, Test cricket’s going backwards?” Aaqib said on the eve of the game. “I don’t understand this. When you go to Australia and England, they prepare pitches how they like. So, if we prepare turning wickets and spinners take wickets, what is the problem?
“Of course, we were right to prepare a spin pitch [in the first Test] against West Indies. Their batters are not as proficient against spin when compared to fast bowling. I also want to address concerns about where our Test cricket is going. If we had taken these decisions earlier, then we would have been in the race for the WTC [final]. The rule of Test cricket is to win at home. If you win at home and you win two to three Tests away, you become a strong candidate for the final.”
Aaqib was commenting following his team’s victory in the first Test against the West Indies, which was the shortest Test ever played in Pakistan. He said that Pakistan was attempting to prepare a similar surface for the second Test as well, and that a decline in the skill levels of Pakistan’s current fast bowlers was a contributing factor in the decision to switch to spinning tracks, which was primarily driven by him and selector Aleem Dar when they were appointed to the men’s selection committee in October.
“We used to be strong on [bowling] reverse swing, but now that skill level has gone down,” he said. “We have told our fast bowlers if you want to take wickets here, their reverse-swing skill will have to go up. In the past, we had Shoaib [Akhtar, Waqar [Younis], Wasim [Akram], and both spin and pace bowlers took wickets.”
“Even though foreign players are struggling with spin pitches from abroad, so are our players, because they have never played on these pitches,” Aaqid said. “Moving forward, we have told them their training and practice routines will be geared towards this, and we will change domestic pitches too. Our next Test is not until October, so that gives them time to improve their batting.”