Former New Zealand cricketer and commentator, Simon Doull has taken a dig at Pakistan skipper Babar Azam while criticising the surface at National stadium in Karachi during ongoing 2nd Test between Pakistan and New Zealand. Notably, pitches in Pakistan have come under massive scrutiny due to their not-so competitive nature, paving the way for high-scoring games.
In the most recent history, Rawalpindi surface turned out to be a batting heaven as England slammed 506-4 on the first day of the Test match, with four of the batters’ scoring centuries. Since then, Pakistan pitches have been widely criticized as the curators have failed to produce sporting pitches. New Zealand commentator Simon Doull criticized the pitch during ongoing 2nd Test between Pakistan and New Zealand by taking a sly dig at Babar Azam.
“Where do these directives come from? Do they come from Babar Azam? Does he want to play on these roads to improve his own stats,” frustrated Doull said. He further suggested that the ground staff must be given free hand to do their job.
“The people above, the hierarchy, have just got to leave their noses out of it. It offers nothing. There is no grass on it. There is no seam movement, and there is no carry. You are picking a guy like Mir Hamza who has a terrific first-class record. You pick guys who perform well at that level, but they come and bowl on this road. You cant expect them to do the same job that they are doing at the first-class level if you are going to produce these types of surfaces,” added Doull.
Talking about the 2nd Test, New Zealand is leading by 155 runs with seven wickets in hand on Day 4. Saud Shakeel (125, 1st innings), and Devon Conway (122, 1st innings) smashed tons in the match.