Pak vs West Indies - Shan Masood defends Pakistan's spin-it-to-win-it strategy

captain of pakistan Shan Masood Strongly defended Pakistan’s decision to make a spin-friendly pitch. Pakistan won by 127 runs The smallest test ever to give results on Pakistani soilMuch of Masood’s press conference focused on why the soil in question was so dry and crumbly.

“Whatever we have to do to take 20 wickets and win the match, we will do,” Masood said. “We don’t even play domestic cricket in these conditions. This is a new thing for us too. We.” changed it During the England series because we wanted our team to win. We should appreciate the hard work of our bowlers, who got us 20 wickets in a row.”

On those fronts, the decision has been a consistent success. Since losing the first Test to England on a flat deck in October, Pakistan have faced setbacks on the surfaces they were best prepared for. In particular the focus has been on the measures they have taken to ensure that spin remains the most powerful – arguably the only – threat.

The second Test against England was played on the same surface as the first Test, with large fans installed to dry it. The third Test in Rawalpindi, which naturally does not take spin until the end of the game, was dry due to fans surrounded by wedding-style heaters and windbreakers; England even accused it to be rakedHowever, no concrete evidence has emerged for this. Ahead of this Test in Multan in the middle of winter, Pakistan went a step further, encasing the surface in a greenhouse as it was heated by those huge heaters and fans.

Every surface created an impact – and as a result, Pakistan was behind it. Their spinner – sajid khan And Noman Ali In particular – there has been a bit of trouble in taking 20 wickets; Since then, none of the 60 opposition wickets have fallen to seam bowlers. And Pakistan has won convincingly in each of those three games.

Masood explained that the victory was not inevitable, but was the result of Pakistan playing better cricket in all departments in each game. “If you are looking at the batsmen individually, it doesn’t make for good reading. But our batsmen batted better than the West Indies and better than the England batsmen in October. If you just look at the centuries and fifties and look at them on a raw basis If we look at the numbers, it will be misleading. Just as we have to be flexible in our playing style, the spectators will also have to be flexible in their thinking and look at their average at home and you will understand. If the conditions are flat, 20 Wicket It’s hard to achieve, we’ve sacrificed individual milestones for team results.”

Masood’s comments indicate that Pakistan has no plans yet to change a successful strategy for itself. While this World Test Championship (WTC) cycle has proven disappointing – they would finish second from bottom in the standings – on paper, they have a very soft draw in the next two-year cycle. In this, they have to play three two-Test series at home against South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka and a three-Test series away from home against West Indies, England and Bangladesh. Masood made it clear that they have their sights set on making the finals in 2027, and if that happens, the way forward is to “win all our games on home soil”.

“If you’re looking at the batsmen individually, it doesn’t make for a good read. But our batsmen batted better than the West Indies, and better than the England batsmen in October… just like that we have to be flexible with our Depending on the style of play, the audience will also need to be flexible in their thinking.”

Shan Masood

He dismissed any concerns over his fellow batsmen’s dissatisfaction with these playing conditions, and allayed fears over the overindulgence of Pakistan’s Test fast bowling. “We cannot pit our bowlers and batsmen against each other,” he said. “The hardest thing here was the batting and fast bowling. West Indies did not score 141 runs in any of their innings, and yet we had a partnership [Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan] Do it. The mistake is that we probably should have tried to build some partnerships around that big partnership. Performance is not just about scoring centuries; In some circumstances, 10-20 extra runs can make a lot of difference.

“If someone has to be sacrificed there, such as a fast bowler or a batsman, then that will happen. There will be opposition where we feel we can prepare a seam-friendly pitch. Then the fast bowlers will get a chance to take wickets as will the spinners. Got it here.” We need to work on how we can move forward as a team. WTC is a two-year cycle, so when subcontinent teams come, fast bowlers will come in. Here, we can prepare seam-friendly wickets. On the bigger picture, no one’s role is being diminished.”

Pakistan will not play any other Test for nine months and has to play only two Tests in the next 14 months. For Massoud, this was of greatest concern, and a situation he deemed unacceptable.

“I have complained about this issue and raised it many times; a country like Pakistan cannot play just 4-5 Tests a year. As a nation we need to emphasize on this. Ten months gap And then if you come and play in these conditions, it could be completely different, our first-class season might have just started at that time, these ten months are important, and I hope we get international and domestic cricket. We will get more Test players and hopefully we will get them in the next ten months. Will be able to take care, they are ready for the series against South Africa in October.”

Ten months is a long time in cricket and, as Masood knows very well, especially in Pakistan cricket. But in a country where captains can live or die based on their team’s results, it is no surprise that Masood makes no apologies for the strategy that is currently leading his team to victory, even if Whatever optics they have with them.

Daniel Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @danny61000

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