Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja unleashed a tirade against Pakistan, which lost a Test match to West Indies at home for the first time in 34 years. After ending Bazball’s dominance last year with a 2-1 series win against England, the men in green believed that they had cracked the formula for making their homes a fortress-a turning strip. The ongoing Test series against the West Indies continued to witness the same trend of playing on spin paradise.
In the first Test, the Caribbean took refuge on the pitch in Multan by turning the ball right from the first hour. But after losing the series opener, the West Indies upped the ante in the second Test, especially on the batting front, as they achieved their first victory after 34 years with a 120-run margin.
The biggest frustration with the Pakistan team is that it has lessened its tempo on occasions against weaker opposition-a sacrilege in the eyes of the former cricketer, not usually expected from an Asian side.
“It’s tough to explain what went wrong. Once you prepare a brutal spinning track, it becomes a lottery. So winning the toss becomes paramount, and every inning counts. The frustrating thing with Pakistan cricket is that against the top teams, we play in the top gears, but then we slide down against weak opponents. Novice mistakes. Such mistakes are unthinkable for Pakistan cricket, particularly from their batters,” he stated in his YouTube address.
In the opening Test, the beleaguered West Indies side tried all it could to withstand the spin prowess of Pakistan and ended up succumbing to defeat by 127 runs. Despite their bitterest defeat, the expressions on the faces of the West Indies players suggested they were able to figure out their next course of action.
But in the second game, Pakistan’s loss seemed around the corner when the visiting party won the toss and elected to bat. Some fire from the tail-end lifted West Indies from a miserable 38/7 to a respectful 163.
The West Indies captain, Kraigg Brathwaite, scored a valuable 52(73) to take his team to a respectable total of 244. A slender lead of 9 runs.
Recent history has witnessed Pakistan’s Sajid Khan as a consistent performer at home. On this occasion he seemed to waver in his line and lengths and leaked runs throughout his spell, but even the advance of the balled-off players’ feet could do nothing to negate the threat spin presented.
Ramiz was quick to lend criticism to Pakistan’s disappointing performance in Multan and said, “Nothing can and should be taken for granted. The spinners could have strangled off the runs and the batting lineup was disappointing. You have to contemplate if the batters can withstand it or not. It was not expected that West Indies would end the second Test on Day 3 and leave the series drawn.”