Pakistan continues to face criticism following their shocking 10-wicket defeat to Bangladesh in the first test in Rawalpindi. This is the first time that Bangladesh has beaten Pakistan away from home in a test match and it is their first ever victory by 10 wickets in any test.
Pakistan’s team management has been under fire for their decision to field four pacers and no spinners on a dry pitch. Former wicketkeeper Rashid Latif highlighted that even the fast bowlers struggled to maintain a good pace over long periods. Latif compared Pakistan’s bowlers to international counterparts like England’s Jofra Archer and India’s Jasprit Bumrah who have dealt with injuries but still managed to retain their speed.
Rashid Latif wrote in a column that there is decline in the speed of Pakistan’s fast bowlers, which has affected their performance. He added that initially, bowlers like Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Khurram Shahzad could bowl at speeds of 145 km/h but now their speed has dropped to around 130 km/h.
Rashid Latif came down heavily on the support staff as he blames the team’s trainers and physios for not maintaining the bowlers’ pace, especially when compared to other international bowlers like Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins, who have returned from injuries without losing speed.
Pakistan’s return to home conditions hasn’t provided much comfort, as this was their fifth defeat in their last nine home test matches. Rashid Latif wrote that their record was much better in UAE as they used to beat the top teams such as England, Australia, etc. but now after returning to the country, they haven’t won many test matches.
Rashid Latif also expressed concern that Pakistan seems to lack bowlers capable of withstanding the demands of test cricket. He is so upset that he went on to state that there are no test match bowlers in Pakistan now because the current bowlers are not even capable of bowling 30 overs in a test match and winning test matches with this type of bowling is impossible.
We are sure that not just Rashid Latif but every Pakistani cricket fan must be feeling disappointed, let’s see what happens in the second test match.
