‘I’d rather see us save the game’ – Shoaib Akhtar condemns PCB over gaining unfair home advantage. (Source – Getty Images)
After a hammering at the hands of England in the first Test of the series wherein Pakistan was battered all around for the visitors to score a mammoth 823/7, there seemed to be a specific pathway that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was hell-bent on following. First, they took a call to play the next Test on the very same pitch that was used for the first game. After leveling the series, the track at Rawalpindi was doctored to behave favorably to spinners from the very beginning of the match.
Former Pakistan cricketer, Shoaib Akhtar, was among the faction who did not favour the strategy adopted by the PCB and called the governing body for what he stood for.
“When you don’t put the right people in the right jobs and you put the wrong mindset on the wrong jobs, this is exactly what happens,” stated a disgruntled Shoaib while speaking on BBC.
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Often complained to my captains of dead pitches: Shoaib
The erstwhile pace bowling stalwart also noted that the aforementioned issue was something that had been a constant point of difference between the management and him since his playing days.
“The division you’re seeing did not happen overnight. It happened two decades ago. I often complained to my captains, ‘Why are you making dead pitches?’ What do we do from here? We either take a selfish approach, or make a spinning track, to win games. Or we save the game (Test cricket). I would rather see us save the game,” voiced Akhtar emphatically.
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Notably, all of the Englishmen’s wickets to fall since the commencement of the second Test up until Stumps on Day 2 of the ongoing one have been courtesy of the spinners. This statistic alone speaks volumes on the point Akhtar stressed on.