Former cricketer Urooj Mumtaz has pointed to domestic pitch conditions as the root cause behind Pakistan’s fading fast bowling threat, placing much of the blame on demands for batting friendly surfaces during Babar Azam’s time as captain.
Responding to a question from Michael Atherton about where Pakistan’s traditional pace threat had disappeared to, Mumtaz turned the conversation toward pitch preparation back home.
“So there’s obviously a problem with the pitches that we prepare, back home,” she said. She cited England’s two tours of Pakistan as clear examples of the issue.
Mumtaz argued that Pakistan’s fast bowling has long been the team’s greatest strength, even if that has not been reflected in results over the last five years. “It is very hard to believe, to say, that Pakistan’s quick bowling is not the strength,” she said.
She explained that the shift began with batters pushing for flatter tracks. “Especially when Babar was captain, wanted flatter tracks, wanted the batsmen sort of dominated the way things ran more,” she claimed.
According to Mumtaz, the problem extends beyond the international game. She noted that even first-class cricket in Pakistan has moved toward batting friendly conditions, with grass often removed from pitches to help batters score freely.
“You were almost putting the fast bowlers up against the wall, giving them zero assistance in first-class cricket,” she observed, adding that this left bowlers with little real challenge to sharpen their skills.
Mumtaz then addressed the individual toll this has taken on Pakistan’s pace bowlers. She pointed to Shaheen Shah Afridi as a prime example, recalling how he emerged as one of the sport’s most exciting young talents before injury disrupted his progress.
“After the injury, he fell off,” she said of Afridi.
She was equally direct about the current state of Pakistan’s bowling stocks. “Naseem Shah is nowhere to be found,” she said, adding that Haris Rauf has also lost pace compared to his earlier years.
Mumtaz said that Pakistan’s fast bowlers have not been given the respect or support needed to keep pushing for extra pace. “They don’t want to bowl fast anymore,” she remarked, noting that Ubaid Shah, currently Pakistan’s quickest bowler, tops out at around 140 kilometres per hour.
Pakistan’s struggles were on full display during the first Test against England at Leeds, where the side was bowled out for just 171.
Their troubles against high pace are not new either. During a recent tour of Bangladesh, which Pakistan lost 2-0, Bangladesh’s fast bowlers consistently clocked higher speeds than their Pakistani counterparts, operating in the high 130s to mid 140s compared to Pakistan’s mid 120s to early 130s range.
Shaheen Afridi’s own numbers highlight the decline. Before a knee injury sustained during a fielding effort in Galle ruled him out for a year, he had taken 99 wickets at an average of 24.86.
Since returning, his next 27 wickets have cost more than 40 runs apiece, and he has been dropped from the XI on multiple occasions, including during Pakistan’s recent series against Bangladesh.
