NEWS
Follow UsIt’s not often that you see a top team be winless at home for 2.5 years, but Pakistan, since the start of 2022, have played eight Tests at home and have not won a single game, losing four and drawing four. This winless streak is set to extend on August 25 (Sunday) in Rawalpindi as Bangladesh, through their remarkable batting performance, have pretty much guaranteed themselves at least a draw.
The hosts entered the ongoing Test against the Tigers with a lot of hope, picking an all-pace attack anticipating help for the seamers, but a placid surface has seen just 17 wickets fall across four days.
In the aftermath of the fourth day, a frustrated Naseem Shah minced no words as he asserted that Pakistan’s ‘home advantage’ means nothing if they keep playing on flat surfaces akin to roads.
"It's been too many series where we get these types of pitches. The ground staff tried their best to make this pitch good for bowling, but perhaps because of the heat and sunshine, there wasn't much help from the pitch. We need to think about how to extract home advantage because you have to find a way to produce results from these games otherwise you're not utilising home advantage,” Naseem said after Day 4, reported ESPNcricinfo.
Naseem attested that in the case of the ground staff being unable to produce surfaces that suit seam, there should be no reason for them not to prepare surfaces that assist spin. So far in this Rawalpindi Test, spin has been a non-factor, with the tweakers taking just three wickets while conceding 359 runs.
"If we're incapable of making the sort of pitches that help fast bowlers, then we should look at whether we can produce spin wickets. However you do it, you need to use home advantage. People come to enjoy Test cricket in this heat, so you need to entertain them,” Naseem said.
“What shouldn't happen is you're on the field at home and thinking this is hard work. The more you keep cricket entertaining, the better. It's something we need to seriously think about."
Naseem admitted that Pakistan were let down by the surface big time since they were expecting the pitch to assist the seam bowlers.
"We believed the fast bowlers would get plenty of help here. But what we were expecting didn't exactly happen. With four fast bowlers, your mindset is to take wickets with the quick balls,” he said.
“However, I don't think it'll spin either because there's grass on the pitch. But the pitch is very dry underneath, and the ball isn't getting much help off the grass because of that, even if it appears like it might off the surface."
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