Pakistan vs England 2022

‘Ek stage pe toh mera dil nahi chaa raha tha ki…’- Shahid Afridi makes a bold statement on Rawalpindi surface

The first Test between England and Pakistan received heavy criticism for curating a pitch that has little assistance for the bowlers. Neither pacers got movement off the surface nor the spinners extracted any spin. Veteran Pakistan and English cricketers have expressed a lot of criticism on the same. 

Expressing his disappointment on the pitch in the first Test, former Pakistan cricketer, Shahid Afridi said he didn’t even feel like watching the game. 

 “You don’t enjoy such matches. Ek stage pe toh mera dil nahi chaa raha tha match dekhne ka. Bohot hi boring ho gaya tha, bowlers ke liye kuch hai hi nahi. Batsmen bhi agar maar diye toh maar diye. Maza nahi aaya. Allah kare ki result aaye, inki bowling lineup bhi aisi hai ki shayad Pakistan ko do baar out naa kar paayein. (At one stage, I didn’t feel like watching the game. It became boring, there’s nothing for the bowlers. Hope there’s a result, because I don’t think England can bowl Pakistan out twice),” Afridi said on Samaa TV.

Afridi went on to say that Pakistan should look to be positive about their batting and prepare pitches that should suit the bowlers as well. He reckons that the bowlers must be given confidence if Pakistan want to win against big teams in Test cricket. 

“Hamko agar final me jaana hai, badi badi teams ko haraana hai, toh hamein bowlers ko confidence dena padega. Ham shell pe chale jaate hain ki kahi batsman naa out ho jaayein. Come on, thoda positive sochna padega. Hamaari batting achhi hai, achhi seaming pitches khilao. Inn pitches pe Naseem Shah bhi 70-80 run kar dega. (If we have to play in the WTC final, beat big teams, we have to give bowlers confidence. We just can’t live in fear that our batsmen will get out early. We have to get our batsmen to play on seaming pitches. On such pitches (like Rawalpindi), even Naseem Shah can score 70-80 runs).”

The first Test match between Pakistan and England is currently underway. England scored 657 runs in the first innings, and, in reply, Pakistan have lost seven wickets for 499 runs on the board.