Inzamam, Latif slam pitch used for first Pakistan, Bangladesh T20I

Former Pakistan cricketers Inzamamul Haq and Rashid Latif have criticised the pitch used for the first Twenty20 International (T20I) between Pakistan and Bangladesh at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Friday.

While speaking in a Youtube video, Inzamam requested the curators to prepare a better pitch for future matches.

“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.”

“Australia prepare flat tracks for T20 matches where big totals are a norm, so we need to follow suit,” he added.

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Latif was also disappointed with the pitch and said that it would be unfair to judge a debutant performance on a difficult track.

“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.”

 “We cannot judge Ahsan Ali and Haris Rauf on such a pitch. Ball was not coming properly on to the bat but Ahsan still managed,” he added.

The second T20I between Pakistan and Bangladesh will take place at the same ground on Saturday.