Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi lashed out at PCB chairman Ramiz Raja for his comments about the Rawalpindi pitch for the ongoing first Test against England. The pitch suffered scrutiny on Day 1 of the match where England scored over 500 runs in an emphatic fashion as Pakistan bowlers struggled miserably against a counter-attacking batting approach.
Raja made a shocking statement that Pakistan still haven’t cracked the code to make an ideal Test-match pitch.
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Afridi was not impressed with the PCB chairman’s comments and said the country has been hosting international matches for a long time and Raja’s statement shocked him.
“The way Ramiz was speaking, I mean I was shocked to listen to him saying that we cannot make tracks like these. International matches have been going on in Pakistan for such a long time but then we say stuff like these. Ramiz said that he wanted a turning track I feel in this weather it would have been something big,” Afridi told Samaa TV.
The legendary all-rounder suggested that the track at Rawalpindi was always used to assist the pacers and it was unnecessary to change it for the first Test against England which put them on the verge of losing the opening Test.
“Rawalpindi’s track has always been for the fast bowlers with seam and bounce. Why did they even change it? We now fear losing this Test and we want to win but don’t know the technique,” he added.
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Afridi didn’t hold back and compared Rawalpindi’s pitch to Faisalabad or Sialkot and pointed out that flat pitches like this are pulling the bowlers down from showcasing their full potential.
“If we are talking about the Rawalpindi pitch, I have never seen a track like this. I have seen a lot of domestic games as well there, but I have never seen a pitch like this which is so flat. It reminded me of Faisalabad or Sialkot track. The four big venues – Multan, Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi – I have seen fast bowlers enjoy those tracks because of the bounce. In fact, there was a time when we used to see a lot many fast bowlers coming from Rawalpindi,” he added.
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