Pakistan cricket team is going through a bad phase. Surprisingly, they lost to Bangladesh in the first Test match of the series, which was played in Rawalpindi.
It was a match Pakistan were expected to win from the start but the visitors were too good for the hosts on the fifth day.
If that wasn’t enough, the team was docked six points in the current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle due to a slowness overrate.
The slow over rate was mainly due to the unavailability of a specialist spinner in the team, which cost Pakistan the defeat.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra also blamed Pakistan’s decision to use four fast bowlers as the main reason behind their low over rate.
He spoke about Pakistan’s poor decision-making and their thought process behind launching a full-throttle attack.
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Aakash Chopra criticises Pakistan’s poor decision-making
While speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra spoke about Pakistan’s decision to not field any specialist bowlers, which cost them the match.
Pakistan opted for Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Ali and Khurram Shahzad as frontline bowlers and spinner Agha Salman as support bowler.
“It was Bangladesh’s first win against Pakistan. Pakistan lost by 10 wickets after a long time, whether at home or in the UAE. Pakistan cricket, how do you do this? It’s a gift that keeps on giving. You put together a line-up of fast bowlers on such a pitch. You went with four fast bowlers. Who is doing the strategy and who is reading the pitch?” Aakash Chopra said.
The former Indian opener also criticised Pakistan’s batting line-up for giving in to Bangladesh’s quality bowlers who play poor shots. He also mentioned that the over rate will always be low when there are so many fast bowlers in the playing XI.
“Then you couldn’t bat well, you gave up on spin and the over rate was so low that ‘Khaaya peeya kuch nahin, glass toda 12 aana’. You got deducted six points. You are giving away more than you are winning. The over rate will be low when you play with so many fast bowlers. Pakistan cricket never fails to surprise you,” Chopra reckoned.
Pakistan now have 16 points with a winning percentage of 22.22. Their chances of qualifying for the WTC final have been seriously damaged after the Rawalpindi test. They are now eighth in the points table, behind even Bangladesh.
Aakash Chopra blames Pakistan’s flat fields for its decline
Pakistan cricket situation has been really bad for the past few months. The team has been losing consistently across all formats. Their home record has also been affected as they have already lost Test series against England and Australia at home.
Aakash Chopra blamed the country’s flat pitches for the decline of cricket. The Rawalpindi pitch was also the same as the bowlers did not have much going for them throughout the match.
“Pakistan’s situation is very bad. When you play at home, you are supposed to be a good team, but you are not known by your name, but by your actions. They have not won a Test match at home for a long time. You make pitches as if they were away,” Chopra said.
“This was one of the flattest pitches considering the history of many Test matches where you would declare after scoring 448 runs and losing just six wickets. The opposing team takes the lead and after that, you collapse. Pakistan cricket has hit rock bottom,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.
The second Test of the series will be played at the same ground and will begin on August 30. After the series against Bangladesh, Pakistan will host England at home for a three-match Test series.
