Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has slammed Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) “selfish approach” for preparing turning pitches against England in the final two Tests.
Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test on a flat Multan deck. The second Test at the same venue was played on the same surface, which assisted the spinners as Pakistan’s spin twins Noman Ali and Sajid Khan shared 20 wickets between then, helping Pakistan level the series with a thumping 152-run win. The third and final Test, which is being played at Akhtar’s hometown Rawalpindi is again being played on a turner.
“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,” Akhtar said while speaking on Test Match Special.
Akhtar, who has taken 444 wickets in all three formats for Pakistan insisted that the decline of Pakistan cricket has not happened overnight, it started two decades ago.
“The division you’re seeing did not happen overnight. It happened two decades ago,” he said.
“I often complained to my captains: ‘Why are you making dead pitches?”
The 49-year-old said that the PCB, instead of making a rank turners to hide their incompetency, should have prepared competitive pitches.
“What do we do from here? We either take a selfish approach, make a spinning track, to win games. Or we save the game (Test cricket),” he said.
“I would rather see us save the game.”
