Image Credit- ICC
Director of the Pakistani squad Mohammad Hafeez
expressed his displeasure with the setup and pitch for the country’s warm-up
match in Canberra, calling them “really surprised and disappointed by the
arrangements.”
After Pakistan’s morning training session, Hafeez
spoke to reporters at the WACA ground. He added that while Pakistan was
enthused about the challenge, they seemed especially irritated by the travel
plans for the match against the PM XI in Canberra, even going so far as to
suggest that it might have been a deliberate move.
“That was the slowest pitch a visiting team could
ever play on in Australia,” he said. “As a team we are really happy
with our preparations because we ticked most of the boxes.
“Everyone knew [the pitch wasn’t what we wanted],
so there was no point of saying it again and again and raising the issue with
Cricket Australia. The disappointment was really high because we weren’t
expecting these kinds of arrangements. Maybe it’s tactical but we’re ready for
it. We’re not using it as an excuse, we’re absolutely ready for the challenges
coming up.”
In the previous two years, the PM XI match in the
Australian capital city has been contested as a four-day competition instead of
the customary limited-overs format. A sudden storm forced an early end to the
game, leaving only three days for play. Before declaring, Pakistan batted 116.2
overs and scored 391 for 9. However, they struggled for 141 overs on a track
that was particularly sluggish, taking just four wickets.
Since it was a first-class match, they could only use
eleven players. When Abrar Ahmed left the game due to an injury, which has
since ruled him out of the first Test, that number was further down to 10.
Hafeez also insisted he wasn’t pointing out his
disappointment with the Canberra surface as an excuse, saying he was confident
this team had the ability to walk away with a series win.
“As a team, we believe we have great talent
within the team who can win in Australia. The guys are really hungry to perform
in Australia. They wanted to take that excitement and challenge in the right
spirit. The message the team conveyed is they want to beat Australia this
time.”