Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed has launched an impassioned defence for the recent spin-friendly pitches for Test matches in the country.
Ahead of the second Test against West Indies in Multan, Aaqib said that if the decision to prepare such wickets been taken sooner, Pakistan may have been closer to making the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Speaking publicly for the first time since assuming the role of interim coach of the Test side, he said he remained focused on winning Test matches and dismissed concerns about his side's strategy.
"Why is it that if fast bowlers take wickets, [people say] Test cricket is moving forward, and if spinners take wickets, Test cricket's going backwards?" Aaqib said on the eve of the game. "I don't understand this. When you go to Australia and England, they prepare pitches how they like. So, if we prepare turning wickets and spinners take wickets, what is the problem?
"Of course, we were right to prepare a spin pitch [in the first Test] against West Indies. Their batters are not as proficient against spin when compared to fast bowling. I also want to address concerns about where our Test cricket is going. If we had taken these decisions earlier, then we would have been in the race for the WTC [final]. The rule of Test cricket is to win at home. If you win at home and you win two to three Tests away, you become a strong candidate for the final."
Aaqib was speaking after his team wrapped up victory in the shortest completed Test in Pakistan - the first Test against West Indies. He said Pakistan were trying to prepare a similar surface for the second Test too, and the decision to pivot to spinning tracks, masterminded largely by him and selector Aleem Dar when they were appointed to the men's selection committee in October, was partly necessitated by a drop in the skill levels of Pakistan's current fast bowlers.
"We used to be strong on [bowling] reverse swing, but now that skill level has gone down," he said. "We have told our fast bowlers if you want to take wickets here, their reverse-swing skill will have to go up. In the past, we had Shoaib [Akhtar, Waqar [Younis], Wasim [Akram], and both spin and pace bowlers took wickets."
In the clearest sign that Pakistan's latest strategy looks like it might be here to stay, Aaqib acknowledged the toll this was taking on his side's batters because "even they have never played in these conditions". He indicated broad changes would follow in the off-season with regards to Pakistan's domestic pitches as well as the training regimen the batters would be put through to prepare them for these wickets in the future.
"Even though foreign players are struggling with spin pitches from abroad, so are our players, because they have never played on these pitches," Aaqid said. "Moving forward, we have told them their training and practice routines will be geared towards this, and we will change domestic pitches too. Our next Test is not until October, so that gives them time to improve their batting."
Pakistan's tactics have come under intense discussion, and at times criticism - both from outside the country and within. While they escaped ICC censure for the surfaces they prepared against England last October - all three were declared satisfactory - a decision on the pitch for the first Test against West Indies has not yet been made.
Criticism from abroad has focused on whether Pakistan's tactics amount to pitch doctoring. Concerns have been raised at home over Pakistan's future ability to develop fast bowlers and quality batting talent, and if this is likely to further erode Pakistan's competitiveness in away Test series.
"We were in South Africa just now, and we came very close to winning a Test," Aaqib said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't take those last two wickets in Centurion. No spinner played those Tests for us there. You have to select a team depending on the conditions you get.
"It's about winning Tests; that's what matters. We think we can prepare these pitches in every center of Pakistan, and it should be as difficult to beat Pakistan here as it is to beat Australia or South Africa away. People should know if they're going to Pakistan, they will have to do something extraordinary to beat Pakistan."