Former Pakistan chief selector Muhammad Wasim has rejected claims that Babar Azam pushed for batting friendly pitches during his captaincy, saying that he actually wanted surfaces that offered some assistance to the bowlers.
During a recent appearance on Dr Nauman Niaz’s YouTube channel, Wasim discussed Pakistan’s pitch preparation and the criticism surrounding conditions during Babar’s time as captain.
According to Wasim, Babar had clearly communicated that Pakistan needed pitches with some turn and assistance for the bowlers. However, he stressed that the request did not involve producing extreme turning tracks that would deteriorate quickly.
“Babar had made it clear that we needed a little bit of assistance from the surface. We wanted turning pitches for the bowlers, but not those extreme pitches where the ball starts turning square or the surface deteriorates within a day or two,” Wasim said.
He explained that the preferred surface resembled the type of Pakistani pitch on which the national team had previously enjoyed success. Wasim said that the idea was to provide a good batting surface while giving spinners enough assistance to influence the game.
Wasim also pointed to Pakistan’s results against South Africa during that period, arguing that the team’s bowlers could succeed when conditions offered them some help. He mentioned Hasan Ali, Yasir Shah, Nauman Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah among the bowlers who troubled South Africa across the series.
He also defended former head curator Agha Zahid, who handled pitch preparation during that period. Wasim said tnat Zahid prepared surfaces according to the requirements of individual matches and had experience producing batting, spinning and pace friendly pitches.
“Agha sahib prepared pitches according to the requirements of the game. If the match demanded a road, he would prepare a road; if it needed a turning pitch, he would prepare one,” Wasim explained.
Wasim therefore rejected the suggestion that Babar was responsible for Pakistan’s reliance on flat batting surfaces. He said asking for some assistance for the bowling attack was a reasonable request rather than an attempt to create conditions designed only for batters.
His comments come after former Pakistan cricketer Urooj Mumtaz recently linked the decline of Pakistan’s fast bowling threat to domestic pitch preparation during Babar’s captaincy.
Mumtaz argued that Pakistan increasingly produced batting friendly surfaces, including in first-class cricket, leaving fast bowlers with limited assistance and fewer challenging conditions in which to develop their skills.
Wasim, however, offered a different assessment of domestic cricket from the same period. He said the first-class competition featured strong contests between leading players and included a variety of surfaces.
“If you look at first-class cricket during that period, when there were six teams, I don’t think I have seen more competitive cricket in the last 15 years,” he said.
Wasim added that domestic matches took place on flat, seaming and turning pitches, although most surfaces remained predominantly batting friendly.
