‘Every team prepares pitches that suit them’ – Shaheen defends Pakistan pitches

The three-match ODI series between Pakistan and Australia was dominated by the discourse around pitches. Pakistan rolled out square-turners for the three matches across Rawalpindi and Lahore to maximise their advantage against the tourists, who were under-strength anyway due to the unavailability of their mainstays.

Pakistan won the series 2-1 after a thrilling low-scoring match at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday. But, whether this victory had any real contribution towards Pakistan’s preparations for the next year’s ODI World Cup – which will be played in southern Africa, where conditions are expected to be more inclined towards fast bowling – has been heavily debated in the country.

Before the second ODI, Mike Hesson defended the Rawalpindi pitch in a post on X, claiming not all venues across South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia had the surfaces with pace and bounce in them, and reassured the fans that the team will be preparing for “a variety of conditions” in the lead up to the quadrennial event. After Pakistan won the series, Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi strongly defended his team’s strategy around the pitches and said that they were entitled to curate conditions to their advantage.

“There are 15 months to the World Cup,” he said. “Every team prepares pitches that suit them when they play in their backyard to win,” Shaheen said. “We have Test series [in West Indies and England] in which some of these players will play and they can use them to prepare themselves [for the World Cup] … We played on green and bouncy pitches when we went to Australia under [Mohammad] Rizwan’s captaincy and we won that series. You cannot offer them green wickets when they come here because we have to win.

“These were tough wickets, and scoring runs or spending time on them was not easy. We have time on our hands before the World Cup and we will prepare pitches of different characteristics as well in the build-up.”

Pakistan’s think-tank has been keen on experimenting youngsters in bilateral series this year to add depth to their player pool before the 2027 World Cup. They handed six debuts across three ODIs in Bangladesh before this series and Arafat Minhas made his debut in the format in the opening match in Rawalpindi. The left-arm orthodox started his ODI career with a record five-wicket haul, becoming the first Pakistani to take five wickets in his maiden appearance in the format, and bagged the player of the series for his all-round contributions.

There were no further debuts in the second and third ODIs, however, as Pakistan played the same side in all three matches, despite uncapped Ahmed Daniyal and Rohail Nazir warming the bench. The decision of recalling Shadab Khan to the squad for these matches generated the most controversy. These were his first matches in the format since the 2023 World Cup. He struggled with the ball in the first two matches as he was the most expensive bowler across both teams, but bowled with discipline in the last match.

He showed maturity with the bat, however. He made 71 off 104 in the second ODI to keep his side’s hopes alive after Australia ripped apart the hosts batting to defend 231 by 41 runs and scored a calm and composed 29 not out off 42 to take Pakistan over the line in the crunch chase of 158. His half-century in the second match was the first in four years – the last one being against West Indies in Multan in June 2022.

“There were some players who got an opportunity in this series,” Afridi said. “We played the same team throughout the series, which has not happened for the last one year … It was good to see how Arafat Minhas bowled throughout the three matches and so was the case with Abrar [Ahmed], who also bowled a good spell today.

“But the biggest positive was Shadab Khan’s performance. Everyone questioned why he was getting opportunities regularly. But, I feel, it is only mature players who can win you such [close] matches in tough conditions. He bowled with control and took two wickets.”

Pakistan have a rare break of a month and a half before their Test tour of West Indies. They will fly to England from the Caribbean for the three-Test series and host Sri Lanka for a full tour, expected to be in October-November. That is when Pakistan are expected to feature in the white-ball matches next.

Source link