Web desk: The Pakistan team couldn’t win another series that they should have won. Despite being in the commanding position on the morning of Day 3, they let South Africa into the match and then collapsed badly in the 2nd innings, gifting South Africa the match, which they won by 8 wickets.
The series ended in a tie, and both teams had to share the spoils.
This has not happened for the first time. They lost the 2nd match of the series against the West Indies as well, despite being in the driving seat. They couldn’t win that series either, which ended 1-1.
It’s not that opposition teams have outplayed them. They have lost because they don’t possess the killer instincts.
Whenever it’s time to kill the time with bat or ball, the Pakistani team loses the plot and concedes the advantage.
Upon close inspection, one thing is becoming clear. The current formula of making spin-friendly wickets is not working.
If we go back to the start of 2024, the Pakistani team was on a losing streak on flat decks.
The pitch curators were unable to make seaming wickets to suit their fast bowlers.
They got whitewashed against England and Bangladesh. When England visited Pakistan again in October 2024, Pakistan lost the first match on the same kind of batting wicket.
They scored 556 runs in the first innings and still lost the match by an innings.
It was at that moment that Aqib Javed’s interview with a TV channel went viral on social media, suggesting that the pitch curators should make spin-friendly wickets.
PCB listened to his advice and instantly made rank-turners for the next two matches. Sajid Khan and Noman Ali wreaked havoc on the English team, taking 39 of the 40 wickets and beating them comprehensively on their way to winning the series 2-1.
It was at this moment that the PCB seemed to have found the winning formula, but they forgot to take the most important thing into consideration – how will Pakistani batters bat on these wickets?
They couldn’t solve this puzzle, and it has come back to haunt them again in this series.
Out of all three formats, Pakistan’s batting looks the most settled in Tests, but they keep failing.
They should know how to play in home conditions, but for some reason, they haven’t been able to score runs consistently.
That’s where this new formula is backfiring. Pakistan should have won the last two series, but they gifted them away on a silver platter.
And it’s not only their batting that has failed. The bowlers will bowl really well at the start and have teams on the ropes, but they haven’t been able to clean up the tail.
The same thing happened in this match, where they let the last two SA partnerships score 169 runs.
Sajid Khan has looked really average with the ball. If he had supported Noman, Pakistan could have done a lot better.
Apart from taking wickets of the tail-enders in the first match, Shaheen hasn’t performed well.
There were many capable fast bowlers available to Pakistan, such as Khurram Shehzad and Muhammad Abbas, but the management went with him, and he was taken for cleaners even by the number 11 Rabada.
Pakistan is known as the land of fast bowlers, but it does not seem to be the case anymore. They turned to turning wickets to get results, but this plan is backfiring.
If they still persist with this formula in the future, then they must offer the same pitches in the domestic circuit so that the batsmen get used to playing spin well.
Secondly, the test players should be bound to play domestic cricket.
You cannot expect them to play well if they stay away from first-class cricket. It simply won’t cut it. And players who are performing consistently in the domestic circuit should be preferred in the selection process.
Pakistan plays its next test series in England in June 2026.
So players who are not part of ODI or T20 squads should get some first-class cricket under their belt so that they are ready for that away assignment.
