Former cricketer Basit Ali slammed Pakistan’s pitch curator Tony Hemming by claiming that the Australian doesn’t know how to “prepare for a pitch” ahead of the second Test in Multan. In Pakistan’s series opener against England, the hosts were blown away by the visitors’ skill set. Under the scorching heat in Multan, Pakistan succumbed to a historic defeat by an innings and 47 runs on a seemingly benign surface.
One of the most notable things about the pitch was the lack of comfort it provided to the spinners. England’s Shoaib Bashir managed to take just one wicket across both innings. Experienced Jack Leach relied on his skills rather than the surface to prove his effectiveness.
Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed bowled 35 overs, spilt 174 runs at an economy of 4.97 and went wicketless before being treated in the hospital after being taken ill. Saim Ayub and Samlan Ali Agha tasted success, but it came at the cost of leaking runs heavily.
Basit claimed that despite his experience, Hemming doesn’t know how to prepare pitches. The 53-year-old set India as an example of how pitches are prepared according to the way that they want.
“We thought in the first Test match that the ball would spin on the second day. But it didn’t happen even on the fifth day. The curator is from Australia, and he has been a part of the ICC as well. But he doesn’t know how to prepare a pitch,” Basit said on his YouTube channel.
“Now players will play on the same pitch, hoping that the ball will spin. What is the point of appointing a curator who doesn’t know how to make a pitch? It is a very important question. The whole world is making fun of us. Look at India. The pitch is prepared the way they want to,” he added.
With Pakistan naming a spin-laden playing XI, the pitch is expected to help out the spinners in the second Test.
Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (capt), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Aamer Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mehmood.
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jamie Smith, Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
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