Courtesy: Google

Courtesy: Google

Aaqib Javed, the Pakistan head coach, has defended the spin-friendly pitches dished out in Test matches at home, which has helped them win three matches in a row. Ahead of the second Test of the two-match series against West Indies in Multan, which Pakistan leads 1-0, Aaqib Javed stated that he doesn’t understand why people think that Test matches move forward only when the fast bowlers take wickets, while if the spinners do the same, then it’s moving backwards.

Notably, after England scored 823/7d against Pakistan in the first Test of the three-match series last year at the Multan Cricket Stadium, losing the high-scoring match by an innings and 47 runs, the team management decided to have the nature of the pitches changed in a drastic manner. Since then, Pakistan, a country famed for its flat batting pitches especially in Test cricket, have had conditions favouring the spin bowlers right through the match.

Pakistan have won three consecutive home Tests after spin-friendly pitches were introduced

It allowed Pakistan to beat England in relatively low-scoring Test matches in Multan and Rawalpindi, to win three-match series 2-1. After returning from a forgettable Test tour to South Africa, where they succumbed to two one-sided defeats, Pakistan managed to get the better of West Indies in a comfortable manner in the first Test of the two-match series at the Multan Cricket Stadium, bundling them out twice within 150 runs on a spinners’ paradise, where Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, and Abrar Ahmed feasted.

During the build-up to the second Test against West Indies at the same venue, Aaqib Javed addressed the perennial question about the pitches, in the latest context involving Pakistan. He was quoted as saying, as per ESPNcricinfo, “Why is it that if fast bowlers take wickets, [people say] Test cricket is moving forward, and if spinners take wickets, Test cricket's going backwards?" Aaqib said on the eve of the game. "I don't understand this. When you go to Australia and England, they prepare pitches how they like. So, if we prepare turning wickets and spinners take wickets, what is the problem?”

Aaqib Javed also stressed the importance of WTC in regards to their recent spin-friendly pitches even though they are out of reckoning to reach the final this year. He said, “Of course, we were right to prepare a spin pitch [in the first Test] against West Indies. Their batters are not as proficient against spin when compared to fast bowling. I also want to address concerns about where our Test cricket is going. If we had taken these decisions earlier, then we would have been in the race for the WTC [final]. The rule of Test cricket is to win at home. If you win at home and you win two to three Tests away, you become a strong candidate for the final.”