Pakistan will kick off a new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with a two-Test series against South Africa at home starting Sunday. The team, which finished last in the previous WTC cycle, has been strong at home, winning three of its last four Tests on spin-friendly pitches made using industrial fans, heaters, and windbreakers.
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| Image Source: Crictoday |
For the first Test at Gaddafi Stadium, Pakistan did not use any special equipment, but spinners are still expected to play a role on the grassless 22-yard strip.
At the pre-match press conference, a reporter asked Pakistan captain Shan Masood about criticism that he was “not leading from the front.” The reporter said, “There is a lot of chatter about your own performance. The talk is that our captain is not leading from the front. Please tell us about it.”
Shan Masood speaks about his performance in response to a journalist’s question#TOKSports #ShanMasood #PakvSa pic.twitter.com/6T37YQlQqP
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Masood responded calmly, saying, “If you give me the numbers, then I will answer this question. We are just repeating one thing. We are playing in such conditions where our priority is to take 20 wickets. We don’t want to play on wickets where Tests are drawn. To excel in WTC, you must win matches. We need to lower our expectations when it comes to cumulative averages. If you look at the WTC cycle for the last period, I am among the top run-scorers for Pakistan. Unfortunately, the results haven’t come, and we consider it a cumulative failure.”
Pakistan enters the first Test with limited red-ball cricket experience. Their last Test was against the West Indies in Multan in late January, which ended in a 1-1 series draw. Star batter Babar Azam and fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who hasn’t played a Test for a year, have not appeared in a first-class match in the past nine months.