Pak vs Eng – Saud Shakeel – Pakistan will have to prepare fields “according to the opposition”
There is little secret information about Pakistan’s ambitions for sound at the moment. Before the second test reached its inevitable conclusion, Aleem Dar and Aqib Javed were already on their way to Rawalpindi to supervise work on the overall test sound. In the post-match press conference in Multan, Shan Masood mentioned that he would like to take the skin off the flip. So for two days, huge heaters, the kind usually seen in Pakistan for weddings in winter climates with visible breezes, were placed at the edges of the strip, with windbreaks surrounding it for optimal power. Lovers of the size of companies accompanied them.
None of this has gone unnoticed for long by an England team that seemed largely clueless on how to battle Pakistan’s spinners on a twisting track in Multan. Harry Brook told a press conference that he believed field staff were “raking” the surface of Pindi to speed up the deterioration process that brings spinners into games early. Closer to home, England fielded a fun XI that includes only a specialist seamer in Gus Atkinson, with the entry of leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed.
Pakistan has had to take definite steps to increase the spin track percentages, because unlike Multan, they are trying to make the skin behave against its nature. Unlike Multan, there is no old ground, as was the case when Pakistan decided to recycle the same strip as the main event for the sport back then. Masood said he had “never seen this happen” in Pindi, and his vice-captain Saud Shakeel echoed that, saying he was hopeful this time could be different.

“If you look at the difference between Multan and Pindi, there is a difference in climate,” Shakeel mentioned. “Multan is warmer than Pindi, Multan is hotter and more humid compared to Pindi. Pindi slightly prefers fast bowlers and has more bounce, compared to Multan. The fielder prepares accordingly, and I think that is what causes the changes in the field.

“Regardless of what the sound looks like and how lucky we were in the second test, we will strive for an approximate indistinguishable sound that favors us and helps us win this sport.”

Since returning from the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan has been agonizing over how best to take advantage of home field. In the early years, the sensible thing to do was to drastically change their tactics in the UAE and revert to friendly launches that they believed would be easier to prepare for. It coincided with the emergence of a young generation of fast bowlers, notably Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. The initial boost, such as a five for Naseem against Sri Lanka and a hat-trick against Bangladesh, followed by a two-Test series victory over South Africa, where Afridi took five wickets in a decisive final day in Pindi, seemed to vindicate What a tactic.

However, since Pakistan deliberately neutralized a surface in Pindi ahead of a Test against Australia, seam-friendly pitches disappeared overnight. Pakistan went on an 11-match winless streak at home, their joint longest streak, losing seven of those games. That streak was only broken on a dilapidated track in Multan last week.

For now, it seems to have caused a sharp change of course in the PCB’s thinking. “We’ll have to look at collection-to-collection and contest releases to verify. And we’ve come to understand that this is a bit overdue,” Shakeel said. “If you want to prepare for the SENA [series in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia]you will be able to do it all over the world and in first-class cricket. If there is first-class cricket before South Africa, will we prepare those kind of pitches there? But we will have to prepare the shots and the situations series by series and in line with the rival.

“Our comeback in the second game gave us a very good morale boost. A win is always very helpful in creating a positive atmosphere. We will try to give the spinners an advantage once again, because they struggled with that in the second Test.”

Pakistan opted not to reveal their XI on Tuesday, as did England, who prefer a more detailed look. Legspinner Zahid Mahmood was dead despite useful situations in Multan, bowling just six overs in the entire competition, which probably greatly increased the chances of playing with a consultant seamer.

In the end, with England naming 3 spinners, it looks like that’s not going to work. “I can’t say right now because we haven’t discussed this,” Shakeel mentioned. “If there is a spin pitch, we can go back to using three spinners.”

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