Bangladesh head coach criticises ‘average’ pitches prepared by Pakistan

Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo has criticised the ‘average’ pitches prepared for the ongoing Twenty20 international (T20I) series between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Lahore.

While speaking to media after Pakistan's comfortable nine-wicket win in the second match, the Bangladesh head coach said that the pitches didn’t suit their young batting lineup.

"The wickets have not been great and a little bit average. It was not easy to bat on them, the pitch was a bit better today but we have a very young batting line-up," Domingo said. "We decided to bat first both times because it didn't look like an easy wicket to bat on and we thought that if we put up a respectable total we could test and squeeze their batsmen in the chase. I think we did that in the first match."

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Following Pakistan’s win in the first T20I on Friday, former cricketers Inzamamul Haq and Rashid Latif had also slammed the pitch used for the match.

“It didn’t feel like a T20 match to me at all. I request the the curators to make a better pitch. People come to watch fours and sixes in a T20 match. The pitch was so difficult that even 142 runs was looking like a big target,” said Inzamam. “We need pitches where the average score is 190 or 200 runs, so our batsmen get accustomed to chasing big scores. Similarly, it will help our bowlers to learn how to contain batsman on flat pitches.”

Latif was also disappointed with the pitch and requested the curators to prepare a better pitch

“It is difficult to make a good pitch in winters. We have PSL coming up and the pitches are likely to behave in a same manner in PSL,” said Latif. “If PCB tries hard, they can make a pitch where average score would be 160 to 170 runs. We are not asking for a 200-run pitch, but 140 runs in a T20 is too low a score according to modern cricket.”

The third T20I between Pakistan and Bangladesh will take place at the same ground on Monday.