Pakistan suffered a heartbreak on Sunday as they lost the opening match of the Test series against England in Rawalpindi by 75 runs. England made a bold move to declare their innings with four sessions to play with the sheer aim to pick all 10 wickets and force a result on the most benign pitches. The Rawalpindi pitch was under immense criticism through the first three days owing to its unresponsive nature. Pakistan captain Babar Azam has now broken silence on he pitch row before taking a dig at the PCB on the same matter.
Batting first, England scored a record-smashing 506 runs on the opening day, laced with as many as four centurions. Pakistan too had their share of centurions when they came in to bat in the second innings. With bowlers finding no aid, the Rawalpindi surface, which last year held a thriller of a contest between Pakistan and South Africa, came under criticism.
After the loss, Babar was asked by one of the reporters how much of comfort did PCB give him and the team in terms of pitch preparations and how much of input did he have in it.
Babar revealed that he did give a lot of inputs but the pitch was not prepared the way it was planned and hence Pakistan faltered on their execution in the Test.
{{/usCountry}}Babar revealed that he did give a lot of inputs but the pitch was not prepared the way it was planned and hence Pakistan faltered on their execution in the Test.
{{/usCountry}}“Dekhe, kafi input tha . Humne jo plan kiya tha, jo chaha rahe the, aise pitch hume mili nehi. Aur jo humare plans they waise execute ho nehi paye unfortunately. Hum thoda turning side pe jaa rahe the. Waise plan tha humara. But unfortunately weather ke wajah se aur thoda preparation ke wajah se waise wicket ban nehi paye (I gave a lot of inputs. The way we planned, the pitch we wanted, we didn't get as per planned. We wanted a turning track and our plans were based on that. But whether it was because of the weather or was it prepared that way, we didn't get as per planed),” he said.
The second Test will begin from December 9 onwards and will be played in Multan.