Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has slammed the pitches produced in the ongoing Test series against Australia. He also felt that Pakistan could take a healthy lead in the second Test instead of their batters crumbling this way. However, Day Three of the second Test in Karachi saw Australia finally declare their innings after batting on the first two days. They declared at 556-9 and by the end of the day, Australia were batting again after restricting Pakistan within 148.

In a YouTube video, Inzamam-ul-Haq questioned the nature of the pitches and said: “The point of playing in home conditions is to play to your strengths – prepare a rank turner to assist the spinners or favor the fast bowlers. Lifeless or slow decks have never been Pakistan’s strength. Pakistan has previously produced flat tracks when Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar used to play. However, it used to have life on those and produced reverse swing.”

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He further added: “I think Pakistan have not played to the best of their ability. Imam-ul-Haq had made two centuries, Abdullah Shafique had played well and Azhar Ali was also in good form. However, no one could score. I want to know whether the captain or the head coach has demanded such pitches. Hence, I blame them partly.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s pace spearhead Mitchell Starc was the chief destroyer as he returned with figures of 13-5-29-3, removing Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, and Sajid Khan as well.

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“I honestly thought Pakistan would be able to take a 250-300 first-innings lead. When a team puts up around 560-600 runs on the board, 90% of the time, the opposition succumbs to pressure,” Inzamam-ul-Haq concluded.