'Pitches aren't bad, it's the brains that are rotten' - Salman Butt lashes out at PCB for preparing 'dead' wicket for Rawalpindi Test

Former Pakistan batter Salman Butt lashed out at the PCB for not having enough trust in their batters and preparing a batting-friendly wicket. The historic Test series between Pakistan and Australia started with a draw in the first game at Rawalpindi Stadium as both teams managed to pick up just 14 wickets combinedly in the Test. The bowlers had nothing on the wicket to improvise on as the cricket experts around the world came hard at PCB for preparing a wicket that has been deemed as ‘boring’.

Imam-ul-Haq brought up twin centuries in the Test while the likes of Abdullah Shafique and Azhar Ali scored hundreds as well. Both teams managed to score above 400 in their first innings and the home side managed to score 252 in their second innings without losing a wicket in 77 overs on day five. The second Test of the three-match series starts on the 12th of March at the National Stadium in Karachi.

‘Pitches aren’t bad, it’s the brains’ –  Salman Butt

Salman Butt recalled the series against South Africa last year where Hasan Ali was picking up fifers at Rawalpindi and reckoned that the Rawalpindi pitch has traditionally been a result-oriented one. He added that the first-class games end up in less than three days in the pitch and highlighted that there is nothing wrong with it.

“Against South Africa, Hasan Ali performed brilliantly (five-wicket hauls in both Tests) in Rawalpindi. Was that stadium somewhere else? So I don’t understand who is passing what information. Anyone who opens the stat will find out the truth. Pindi is a result-oriented pitch. In first-class matches, people complain that matches end here in 2.5 days,” Salman Butt told on his Youtube Channel.

Butt noted that it’s the lack of belief among the management in their batters that played a big part in preparing a dead pitch and criticised them for not having enough confidence. He hoped for a better pitch in Karachi and Lahore for the remaining Tests and it has to be noted that the home side has the advantage of preparing pitches that will assist spin or fast bowling.

“Please tell me what’s wrong with Pakistan pitches. Pitches aren’t bad, it’s the brains that are rotten. The people who are at the helm of cricketing affairs..it’s their weakness in underestimating themselves that we cannot play. Imam is in the team since 2019. It’s 2022 now. You don’t have confidence in him?” Apart from him, Abdullah Shafique is coming into the team after scoring runs against Bangladesh and the PSL. This game was treated as a practice game,” he added.