'Can't prepare a bouncy wicket and put the match in Australia's lap': PCB chairman Ramiz Raja on Rawalpindi pitch

PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said pitches in Pakistan will be upgraded later in March and April after the end of the season.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja addressed the criticism that has been levelled on the pitch that was prepared for the first Test between Pakistan and Australia in Rawalpindi. The match marked the start of Australia's first tour of Pakistan in 24 years but the match itself petered out to a draw with both teams scoring over 450 runs in their first innings.

Raja said pitches in Pakistan will be upgraded.  (AFP)

Former players like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez were among those who criticised the pitch. Raja said that pitches in Pakistan need to get a facelift and work on that will be done in March and April.

“A drawn Test is never a good advertisement for Test cricket and I totally understand that we need to have a result after five days of cricket. But I would like to clarify a few things,” said Raja in a video posted by the PCB.

“The first thing that I had said that we need to redo pitches in Pakistan on a massive scale. But it was September when I took charge and the season was still on. During the off season you would see that we got soil from Australia here and we experimented some kind of soil ourselves. We will then redo 50-60 pitches in Pakistan as soon as our season comes to an end in March and April,” he said.

Raja also said that they could not make fast or bouncy pitches as that could give Australia the advantage. The former Pakistan captain also pointed out that the team itself had its opening batting and bowling combinations disturbed ahead of the start of the Test because of which there was the danger of them not being able too compete if the pitch did not have conditions familiar to the home side's batters.

"I understand the fans' frustration and it would have been great if there was a result in this Test match. But do remember that this is a three-Test series and there is a lot of cricket left to be played. We cannot make a fast or bouncy pitch for the heck of it and put the conditions in Australia's lap. It is important that when we play at home, we play according to our strengths.

"The team had limited resouerces unfortunately. Our opening bowling and batting combinations were disturbed and when that happens, you take chances accordingly. We also didn't have a leg spinner so we had an undersourced 15 going into this match. Australia is a powerhouse of the world and we respect their talent and we could not go into an experimental mode considering our strengths.

“The batting was great, one spinner took six wickets so these were the bright points. Fans need to understand that we will try to make this a result-oriented series but it's not like we can just wave a magic wand and good pitches will appear. We have to beat Australia and make a strategy accordingly. And the strategy is that we play on low bounce tracks where the ball will reverse and leg before and bowled out decisions come in play. Our spinners will also be able to use the conditions. Our batting is used to facing low bounce and that would also be an advantage,” said Raja.

The second Test will be played in Karachi from March 12 after which the third and final Test of the series will be played in Lahore from March 21.