Masood wants turning pitches in Pakistan domestic cricket to give batters 'exposure'
Pakistan captain Shan Masood said he expected the team to continue their recent experiment of heavily turning tracks at home, and that they would be replicated across domestic cricket as well. After falling to a 120-run defeat at home against West Indies that levelled the series 1-1 and confirmed Pakistan’s position at the bottom of the current World Test Championship cycle, Masood maintained there were “encouraging signs” that Pakistan would seek to build on.”Domestic cricket will be played like this,” he said. “We’ve already talked about this. The more we’ll play the better we’ll get at it. We’ve shown encouraging signs. After the four matches, we’ve won three in these conditions. We dominated the first hour of the first day which could have swung the match in our favour. It’s just about winning those key moments and ensuring we’re consistent with these conditions domestically and internationally.”Since Pakistan lost the first Test against England on a flat wicket in Multan, they have reverted to producing tracks that break up and spin from the first day, rendering fast bowling almost redundant. The last four home Tests have seen Pakistan take 80 wickets, with just one falling to a seam bowler. Fingerspinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali have dominated the bowling attack, taking 70 of the 80 wickets, and frequently opening the bowling attack in each innings. It has turned around Pakistan’s straggling home form, allowing them to beat England 2-1 at home and easing to a victory in the first Test against West Indies. This Test, however, the visiting spinners turned the script around on them, with left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican of West Indies walking away with both the Player-of-the-Match and Series awards.Related
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“It’s a game of all stakeholders. We should appreciate the players for throwing themselves in the den without being exposed to these conditions. We know we haven’t played domestic cricket in these conditions. In some ways, it’s a kind of bravery to expose ourselves to these conditions. We practiced, but this is new for us. But we need to replicate this in domestic cricket, give our batters exposure so we play in these conditions and get runs in them. In the fourth innings, anything over 150 is a competitive score, where spinners will always have the edge.”An unavoidable outcome of such surfaces is the outsized role the toss plays. All four times, the side winning the toss has batted first, walking away with victory three times. While Pakistan were able to flip that script against England in the series-decider, West Indies’ win once more demonstrated the way these pitches can slant a game in favour of the side bowling last.Mohammad Rizwan was bowled by Jomel Warrican, who took the match and series honours•AFP/Getty Images
However, it didn’t appear that way when Pakistan bowled in the first hour, having reduced West Indies to 54 for 8, and letting that situation slip through their fingers frustrated Masood most of all. “We didn’t get the result we wanted. The positive thing was when you field first and you know the fourth innings will be difficult. So you try to restrict the opposition in the first innings. We bowled brilliantly for the first eight wickets. But we’ve talked about the first innings batting and bowling combining to do well, so you have the advantage in the third and fourth innings. If you look at our batting and bowling, and the mistakes we made collectively, that was a crucial time because their last two wickets cost us dear.”Then, with the bat, we went from 119 for 4 to 154 all out. When these collapses happen and the other side puts on partnerships, they can set you back. If we’d got them out early and got a 100-run lead, the Test match would be completely different. With Test matches on these pitches, you can’t wait to make a move, because things are decided on day one, and that is where you can win or lose matches.”This is the end of a cycle, an unhappy one for Pakistan, and for its leader. Pakistan have lost nine of their last 12 matches, all five away from home and four of seven at home. Despite starting off with a crushing away win in Sri Lanka, they have finished bottom of the WTC table, and do not play another Test for nearly nine months.Masood acknowledged Pakistan had fallen short of expectations, but did not believe the side required a complete overhaul, pointing out fine margins made the difference in this Test, and could be worked on.”The tail not getting wickets is an area of concern, and we need to finish off sides quicker,” Masood said, echoing his frustrations in South Africa, where the last two wickets adding too many runs cost them dear in the first Test at Centurion. “Against Australia, who have the best tail in the world, we got them out cheaply, but not here, or against Bangladesh or South Africa.”Batters have been proactive, but we need more contributions. You may not get hundreds here but 30s and 40s contribute to the winning conditions. Kraigg Brathwaite was an ideal example. He took the game on. One batter will need to step up in these conditions especially when the ball is new.”It’s not about holding someone responsible. This isn’t an accountability bureau. This is a team effort. Our mistake as a team was the first two innings. That was what set us back, and gave the opposition a degree of freedom. If we had a 100-run lead, I do not think they’d have been able to play in the way they did. We need to understand the direction of matches will be decided very quickly, as early as day one.”