As the Pakistan cricket team prepares to take on England in a 3-match Test series, the Pakistan cricket team's batters have shared their inputs on the preference of the nature of the pitch. After Pakistan's 0-2 whitewash against Bangladesh at home, the batters have reportedly asked coach Jason Gillespie to instruct groundsmen on preparing a flat pitch. However, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali claimed that Gillespie wasn’t happy with this request from the batters and asked them to “shut up”.
Pakistan's cricket is in absolute disarray, with neither the bowling nor the batting unit managing to leave a positive impact. Shan Masood’s stint as Pakistan’s Test captain has also come under the spotlight, especially considering that Babar Azam left his role as the team’s skipper in both white-ball formats.
While the batters are keen to be given a flat pitch in order to extend their chances of scoring runs against England, coach Gillespie doesn't want grass to be completely saved off the pitch.
"I will give you an inside story. Jason Gillespie has handed a shut-up call to Pakistan batters. He wants the pitch to remain the same that has been prepared by the groundsman," Basit said on his official YouTube channel.
"Pakistan batters wanted to cut off the grass to make it a flat pitch. The pitch curator and Gillespie want to play on the same pitch. I would be really happy if the match took place on a grassy surface and our bowlers took wickets," he further said.
During their previous visit to Pakistan in 2022, England swept aside Pakistan 3-0 in a ruthless manner with their "Bazball" approach producing rich results.
England veteran Joe Root hoped the team’s series win against Pakistan two years ago would help the visitors formulate their plans, but emphasised that the visitors will have to be at the top of their game.
“Yes, that series has helped us prepare for the coming matches and we have a plan on how to play here. But this is a new series and we have to play well again to win again in Pakistan,” Root told a media conference here on Saturday.
"We learned a few things from that series, but (playing against) Pakistan at home is a challenge. Pakistan can definitely take advantage of their home conditions and we also have a couple of new young players eager to establish themselves. It should be an interesting series," he said.
With PTI Inputs
