Former Pakistan Test cricketer Jalaluddin has expressed his belief that the inclusion of two spinners in the 15-man squad announced for the first Test against England indicates Pakistan's intention to prepare spin-friendly pitches for the series.

The national selection committee on Wednesday unveiled the squad for the Multan Test, and Jalaluddin, a seasoned coach, told The News that while home advantage is crucial, Pakistan's team also struggles on spin-heavy tracks. He emphasized that the batsmen need to improve their performance on such pitches, as England also boasts skilled spinners.

“Our batsmen always struggle on spin-friendly pitches. Besides, England also have good spinners,” Jalaluddin said.

The former cricketer criticized Pakistan's curators for failing to produce pitches conducive to the team's success, highlighting the recent 2-0 defeat to Bangladesh as evidence of this issue. The 65-year-old advocated for the preparation of sporting wickets that support medium pacers in the early days and spinners in the latter stages, a strategy that has proven successful for Pakistan's batting lineup.

Regarding the captaincy, the former pacer endorsed the appointment of Shan Masood, stating that Pakistan has limited options in this regard. He stressed the importance of Babar Azam scoring runs to ensure Pakistan's success against England, urging other batsmen and all-rounders to contribute significantly to the batting lineup.

“Other batsmen and all rounders should contribute in the batting line up and score handsome amount of runs. Otherwise Pakistan would not survive against England,” he said.

“England have changed their cricket. They don’t fear losing matches. They go all out for winning matches and take risks. Sometimes they aren’t successful in winning matches but their strategy and planning is result oriented,” he added.

Jalaluddin acknowledged England's aggressive approach to cricket, noting that they are not afraid to take risks and declare innings early to create result-oriented matches. He emphasized that Pakistan must seize such opportunities and play with utmost dedication and unity to overcome the challenges posed by the English team.

 “They could suddenly declare the innings and give a target to make the match result oriented. It depends on Pakistan how they accept the challenge,” he said.

“They have only option to play without the fear of defeat and wait for England’s weaknesses to be exposed and when England would give them a chance to make the matches result oriented grab that opportunity and play with utmost dedication and unity," he added.

The former cricketer predicted a possible bowling combination of Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, and Noman Ali for the series.