New Delhi: When it comes to talking about cricket, Indian spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin does not shy away from making bold comments. Recently, he analysed the poor performance produced by Pakistan in the first Test match against Bangladesh, where they suffered an embarrassing 10-wicket defeat in Rawalpindi. Pakistan fell to a dramatic Day 5 defeat, losing to Bangladesh for the first time ever in Tests.
Pakistan skipper Shan Masood took a wrong call by declaring the first innings at 448, despite the team having lost only six wickets. Bangladesh posted a higher total before the hosts collapsed in the second innings miserably. Ashwin, on his YouTube channel, criticised the team saying that Test cricket in Pakistan is on the verge of collapsing.
Teams don’t surrender on such a pitch: Ashwin
“Teams don’t surrender on a pitch like this. In first-class cricket, strong teams will bat first and hit big,” said Ashwin, speaking on his YouTube channel. “When I saw the highlights of the match, I understood that it was a proper, tiring collapse on the final day. I haven’t seen that for a long time,” Ashwin admitted.
The star Indian spinner also said that he was surprised as to how Pakistan batters got out cheaply in the second innings of the match.
“In the end, when Mohammad Rizwan was staging a fight, Naseem Shah played a shot and got out cheaply. I did not understand what happened. There was nothing on the pitch,” Ashwin said.
Former South Africa performance analyst Prasanna Raman, who usually joins Ashwin for his videos, openly criticised Pakistan’s batting.
“Bangladesh have no mystery spinners or wrist spinners. There is no threat. If you can’t bat for four sessions on a pitch like that at home, it can mean only one thing. Division 1 and Division 2 cricket needs to be brought in. Otherwise, Test cricket in Pakistan will be destroyed,” said Raman, to which Ashwin nodded.
Pakistan skipper Shan Masood took a wrong call by declaring the first innings at 448, despite the team having lost only six wickets. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
