|HT|
The Pakistan cricket team will return to action later today when the side takes on the West Indies in the first of three ODIs in Multan. This is Pakistan's first international series since Australia's tour of the country in February-March earlier this year, where the touring party placed in three Tests, three ODIs, and one-off T20I. Australia had won the Test series 1-0 and a lot was said about the condition of pitches throughout the series, which didn't seem to assist the bowlers. While talking about Babar Azam's captaincy, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt spoke in detail about the concern again, insisting that leadership skills don't matter if the pitches aren't good.
“If you want to judge a captain tactically, Test cricket is the best format to analyse that. But captaincy doesn't matter when you prepare pitches like these. You can just look at those pitches and say that spinners will play. Result is difficult in five days. The chairman will then say, 'What else are we supposed to do? Hand them the game?'” Butt said, as he recalled PCB chairman Ramiz Raja's statement after the first Test. Raja had said they cannot prepare “fast or bouncy pitches” and make the conditions more favourable for the Aussies
“How can you test your skill in such a way? You can win Tests in England, and give the sides a tough time in away Tests. You can't just put all the burden on the captain. You need experienced bowlers. We have talented bowlers but they lack experience. It's not easy to win Tests abroad. Haris Rauf, for example, is young and energetic with good attitude, but experience will only come with time. Same goes with Shaheen. Among spinners as well, no one at the moment has the ability to run through a batting order,” Butt further said.
“Nevertheless, Babar is growing with time. His batting remains unaffected with the captaincy, which is a good thing.”
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