Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi put the super flat deck used for the Rawalpindi Test against Australia under scrutiny, stressing the home side failed to utilise the home advantage to good effect. In a dull draw, only 14 wickets fell over 5 days of cricket in the first Test of the series with over 1,100 […]
Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi put the super flat deck used for the Rawalpindi Test against Australia under scrutiny, stressing the home side failed to utilise the home advantage to good effect.
In a dull draw, only 14 wickets fell over 5 days of cricket in the first Test of the series with over 1,100 runs made.
Speaking as a guest speaker on ‘Samaa TV’ in Pakistan, Afridi wondered why the curator got the nature of the track horribly wrong, as it had nothing on offer for both pacers and spinners.
While the pacers found substandard pace and bounce, spinners had to toil hard even on the final afternoon for minimal turn. Outside a few sessions where the ball kept low and made run-scoring difficult, batters had a field outing throughout the Test match.
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Shahid Afridi called for better surfaces in the Pakistan-Australia Test series.
Shahid Afridi questioned whether Pakistan felt overawed by the historic occasion of hosting Australia after more than two decades and were wary of preparing a track where the visiting pace battery may have relished their time.
Along this, Afridi made a hilarious comment on Indian surfaces, saying if it was India, the track would’ve been such that the Aussies would’ve feared for their life.
“Home series jab bhi hoti hai, toh uska advantage uthate hi uthate hain (whenever there is a home series scheduled, the home team takes advantage),” Shahid Afridi said. “Ap India misaal lein, kitni gandi wicket bana dete hain. Pagal hi ho jaate hain gore saare (you take India’s example, they prepare some of the worst pitches. It gets the foreign visitors mad).”
– @SAfridiOfficial wonders why Pakistan was on the back-foot against Australia and what made us not take home-advantage? #GameSetMatch #SamaaTV #PakvAus pic.twitter.com/5mmlZ4gDYW
— Sawera Pasha (@sawerapasha) March 8, 2022
While India have only sporadically made a rank turner over the last decade, Shahid Afridi’s remarks were still hilarious in summation of how the Rawalpindi curator messed up the surface for the first Aussie Test.
Afridi said he expects more result-friendly surfaces in Karachi and Lahore, where the next two Tests of the series will be held. In an empathetic tone, however, the ex cricketer said the moist and hazy weather in Rawalpindi may have something to do with the excessively true surface.
The second Test starts on Saturday (March 12) in Karachi, followed by the third in Lahore from March 21. The Test series, Pakistan’s first at home against Australia since 1998, is part of the new cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC), spanning 2021-23.
