'When you lay the net to catch a lot of fish, sometimes you get trapped yourself' - Aakash Chopra on Pakistan's 120-run loss against West Indies

Pakistan recently suffered a crushing 120-run loss against West Indies at home. Being set a target of 254, they were folded for a paltry 133 as the opposition spinners ruled unchallenged at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator, Aakash Chopra, highlighted the common mistake which teams from the Asian subcontinent get trapped into, while playing teams from outside that particular region. He alluded to the series where India suffered a whitewash against the Kiwis while discussing how the Pakistan-West Indies game played out.

"Pakistan were playing against the West Indies. The West Indies were 54/8 in the first innings. It seemed like it was over and it would be a two-day game, but it didn't happen like that. Runs were scored in the end and eventually, the West Indies won the match. When you lay the net to catch a lot of fish, sometimes you get trapped yourself. The hunter becomes the hunted," Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.

"It has not happened once, but many times. Subcontinental teams make this mistake. They make rank turners when they see the opposition team doesn't have that good spinners and batters who play spin well. We have seen this with India as well," he added.

Also Read: 'I think domestic cricket also will be played like this' - Shan Masood endorses having rank turners

Could have played on a slightly neutral surface against the West Indies: Chopra

Chopra further elaborated his point by reflecting on the Wankhede Test against New Zealand in 2021 where Ajaz Patel wrecked havoc, dismissing all 10 of India's batters in a record outing. He also pointed out Pakistan's tendency of  not maintaining a balanced perspective while preparing pitches for home series.

"Since both teams come closer to each other on rank-turners because the pitch has suddenly played a huge role, you get beaten badly. It happened to India at the Wankhede where we couldn't play Ajaz Patel. They (New Zealand) batted and went after beating us, and it's not happened for the first time," Chopra said.

"Pakistan live in extremes only. They used to prepare absolutely flat pitches earlier, and England scored nearly 800 runs. Then they said they would play all their matches on underprepared pitches. Spin to rule, where there is no need to play fast bowlers. You could have played on a slightly neutral surface against the West Indies," he added.

Recently, a trend has been observed wherein teams have gone all-out to prepare pitches which suit their strong points in Tests due to the competitive spirit instilled by the introduction of the World Test Championship.

The most-recent instance of this was at play in the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Renowed Australian cricketing greats in the form of Glenn McGrath and Matthew Hayden labelled the deck as the "greenest SCG pitch" they had ever seen.