Don't see any problem: Pakistan coach Aaqib Javed on preparing rank turners

Don't see any problem: Pakistan coach Aaqib Javed on preparing rank turners

Javed said that had Pakistan implemented this idea of spin pitches earlier, they would have been in contention for a WTC Final spot

Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed slammed critics of the team’s ploy of making spin-friendly wickets which are close to being called rank turners. He said that had Pakistan done it way before, they would have been in reckoning for a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final.

“If we had taken these decisions earlier, then we would have been in the race for the WTC [final]. The rule of Test cricket is to win at home. If you win at home and you win two to three Tests away, you become a strong candidate for the final,” Javed said ahead of the second Test of the two-match series against West Indies.

Javed, who overtook Jason Gillespie as the head of the red-ball unit after being first given the interim role for the white-ball set-up in November 2024, asked why there should be a problem if spinners take all the wickets in place of pacers.

"Why is it that if fast bowlers take wickets, [people say] Test cricket is moving forward, and if spinners take wickets, Test cricket's going backwards?

I don't understand this. When you go to Australia and England, they prepare pitches how they like. So, if we prepare turning wickets and spinners take wickets, what is the problem,” he asked.

The 52-year-old further backed the idea of spin pitches, comparing it to fast wickets used in countries like South Africa and Australia as home advantage.

"We were right to prepare a spin pitch [in the first Test] against the West Indies. Their batters are not as proficient against spin when compared to fast bowling.

We think we can prepare these pitches in every center of Pakistan, and it should be as difficult to beat Pakistan here as it is to beat Australia or South Africa away. People should know if they're going to Pakistan, they will have to do something extraordinary to beat Pakistan,” he added.

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