A photo that sums up the absurd state of Pakistan cricket

MULTAN – Even by the usual standards of Pakistan cricket, last week was completely chaotic. However, given their status as the most unpredictable team in the world, they should not be overlooked to come out of it all and beat England in the second Test in Multan.

To say their reaction to last week’s England strike was extreme is a gross understatement.

Within hours of that historic defeat, when Pakistan became the first team to lose a Test by an innings margin after fielding 500 players, they disbanded the selection panel and convened a new one.

Initial discussions in Lahore on Friday did not involve coach Jason Gillespie or captain Shan Masood. When they were finally consulted on Saturday, the decision was taken to release arguably the country’s three best players – former captain and batting icon Babar Azam and star sailors Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah.

This meant the retirement of Joe Root, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, before the latter two retired, of course. No wonder cricket fans here were in shock and confusion.

All this was formally disguised as concern for the well-being of the trio. All three have been “rested” – a mantra repeated so often in the first 24 hours of the news that one gets the impression that the Pakistan selectors are protesting too much.

To underscore Pakistan’s trauma after the series began, they then decided to play the second Test on the same pitch that was used last week here in Multan.

This was another decision on which the clearly disgruntled Gillespie and Masood were not consulted.

And just in case anyone was wondering what Pakistan’s expectations were of this pockmarked and potholed surface, on the eve of the second Test, a team of no less than five players, two of them all-rounders, and only one from the front line was named. seamstress.

Among those called up were two aging spinners – Zahid Mehmood and Noman Ali. Mehmood, 36, has not played a first-class match since January and two years ago in his two Tests against England in Pakistan, he scored almost seven overs before he was dropped. Noman (38) has not played red-ball cricket since July last year.

One scene that added to the sense of confusion was the 45-minute selection meeting that took place right next to the pitch in Multan on the eve of the match on Monday. Gillespie, Masood, Tony Hemming, chief host of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and selectors including Aqib Javed and former umpire Aleem Dar were engaged in a lively discussion, pointing and gesturing on the pitch.

Then, during a press conference, Azhar Mahmood, Pakistan’s assistant coach, explained why there was an unusual choice of pitch used, which at one point bordered on the absurd.

“Listen, we have to score 20 goals,” Mahmood said.

“We were thinking about how we could do it against England. I think to use an already used pitch the idea is to score 20 goals for England. If we play with the spinners and dominate, we have a good chance of doing it. We felt we could have the home advantage.

“Our instructions (for the first test) were for a spin pitch, but even on the fifth day there was no change. Now I think in the next Test there will be a change on the pitch on day nine.”

This meeting off the pitch, full of lively gestures, has been going on for at least half an hour: pic.twitter.com/4Z3e4w2iU7

— George Dobell (@GeorgeDobell1) October 14, 2024

England captain Ben Stokes admitted the unprecedented move of playing back-to-back. Tests on the same pitch helped him decide to play in this match after a two-month break due to a torn hamstring.

“You’d like to think it might be a bit more in favor of the rotation, so playing on a used pitch made the decision a bit easier,” he said.

Stokes, who will play his 106th Test this week, added: “This is the first time I have played on a used wicket in a Test series.

“We will have to wait and see what happens. But yeah, I’ve never seen the pitch used in back-to-back games before. And I’ve never seen such huge fans standing as judges.

This was a reference to the giant fans who stood at both ends of the pitch on Sunday as ground crews accelerated the drying process of the runway, which had been soaked in the previous days.

This can help open cracks that are already visible. But it is those who are not as visible in the Pakistan camp that England will want to exploit.

Masood, who lost all six Tests as captain and publicly blamed the bowlers for last week’s defeat, is clearly not universally popular in the dressing room. Gillespie also appears to be at the end of his rope just six months into his tenure.

Added to this is the chaos on the field. There were fears this week that the third Test could be moved to Multan from Rawalpindi due to political unrest in neighboring Islamabad.

The second Test was shifted from Karachi to Multan just 17 days before the start of the series due to ongoing construction works at the original venue. Indeed, renovation work for the upcoming Champions Trophy has also ruled out Lahore as a venue for the series.

It wouldn’t be that bad, but Pakistan still isn’t even sure it will host the Champions Trophy due to India’s clear refusal to travel to its neighbors. India has not played Pakistan since 2008, and the apparent reluctance of Narendra Modi’s right-wing Hindu nationalist government to allow its team to travel means that the India-led International Cricket Council, now headed by Jay Shah, the son of its closest political member Modi ally Amit Shah could withdraw at least part of the tournament from Pakistan.

The schedule has not yet been announced and it seems unlikely that it will be decided before the start of the Champions Trophy in February.

This is not Pakistan’s fault, of course. But all this adds to the sense of confusion currently prevailing in cricket in the country.