Ahead of the second Test against West Indies in Multan, Aaqib said that if the decision to prepare such wickets had been taken early, Pakistan would have been closer to making the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Speaking publicly for the first time since taking over the role of interim coach of the Test team, he said he was focused on winning Test matches and dismissed concerns about his team’s tactics.
“Why is it that if fast bowlers take wickets, [people say] Test cricket is moving forward, and if spinners take wickets, Test cricket is going backward?” Aaqib said on the eve of the game. “I don’t understand it. When you go to Australia and England, they prepare the pitches as per their choice. So, if we prepare turning wickets and take spinner wickets, what is the problem?
“Of course, we were right in preparing the spin pitch [in the first Test] Against West Indies. Their batsmen are not as skilled against spin as compared to fast bowling. I also want to address the concern about where our Test cricket is going. If we had taken these decisions earlier, we would have been in the race for 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.”
“We used to be strong [bowling] Reverse swing, but now that skill level has gone down,” he said. “We have told our fast bowlers that if you want to take wickets here, their reverse-swing skills have to go up. In the past, we had Shoaib [Akhtar, Waqar [Younis]Wasim [Akram]And both the spin and fast bowlers took wickets.”
In a clear indication that Pakistan’s latest strategy may be here to stay, Aaqib admitted that it was having an impact on his team’s batsmen because “even they have never played in these conditions”. He indicated that in the off-season, extensive changes will be made to Pakistan’s home pitches as well as the training regime to prepare the batsmen for these wickets in the future.
“Even though foreign players are struggling with the spin pitches abroad, our players are also struggling because they have never played on these pitches,” Aqid said. “Going forward, we have told him that his training and practice routine will be in the same direction, and we will also change the home pitches. Our next Test is not before October, which will give him time to improve his batting. “
Criticism from abroad has focused on whether Pakistan’s strategy amounts to pitch doctoring. Concerns have been raised domestically over Pakistan’s ability to develop future fast bowlers and quality batting talent, and this is likely to further reduce Pakistan’s competitiveness in overseas Test series.
“We were in South Africa recently and we came very close to winning the Test,” Aaqib said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t take the last two wickets in Centurion. None of the spinners there played those Tests for us. You have to select a team based on the conditions.”
“It’s about winning Tests; that’s what matters. We think we can prepare pitches like this in every center in Pakistan, and it should be as difficult to beat Pakistan here as it is to beat Australia or South Africa. People should know that if they are going to Pakistan, they will have to do something extraordinary to defeat Pakistan.”
Daniel Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @danny61000
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