Ganesh Kendale
Two Pakistan bowlers, spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, combined to take all 20 England wickets in Pakistan’s 152-run win on day four of the second Test in Multan on Friday, which helped the hosts level the three-match series at 1-1.
Left-arm spinner Noman Ali’s eight wickets (8 for 46) in the second innings gave him a match haul off 11 for 147, while off-spinner Sajid Khan, who took seven wickets in England’s first innings, finished with a match haul of 9 for 204.
England’s second innings folded up inside two hours on the fourth day for 144, with skipper Ben Stokes’s 37 being the top score in the visitors’ batting chart.
It was the first instance since 1987 that two Pakistan spinners took a five-wicket haul in the same Test and only the seventh time in the history of Test cricket that two bowlers took all 20 opposition wickets.
“Sajid and Noman bulldozed England,” said former Pakistan batsman Basit Ali on his YouTube chanel.
The match was played on the same pitch at the Multan stadium where England registered an innings victory in the first Test despite the hosts scoring more than 500 runs in their first innings.
Resultantly, the used track offered more turn that Noman and Sajid exploited to the home team’s advantage.
Basit said now the England media and former players will start questioning why the same pitch was used for two Test matches.
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“I will tell you what game England will play now. (They will call it) 6th-day wicket, 7th-day wicket, 8th-day wicket, 9th-day wicket, 10th day wasn’t required,” Basit predicted about how the criticism of the pitch will follow Pakistan’s victory.
“Every team takes home advantage. (There are) swinging conditions in England, bouncy in Australia and South Africa, while the tracks spin in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,” he added. “The British media and ex-England cricketers, who are now commentators, will start saying ‘same pitch pe match khila diya (the Test was played on the same track as the first)’.
“Is there a law that says you can’t do that?” the 53-year-old Basit questioned.
He went on to laud the new set of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selectors led by former pacer Aaqib Javed, for their decision.
“Pehli dafa thodi si akal aayi, management ko nahi, Aaqib Javed ne jo faisla kiya (first time a decision made sense, not by PCB but Aaqib),” said Basit. “Some people in Pakistan, I don’t think it will be right to name them, they don’t want there should be spinning tracks because it may hurt their batting performance.
“Dosti-yaari nahi chalne di Aaqib ne (Aaqib didn’t allow friendships to rule selection matters).”
The Aaqib-led selection committed had dropped Babar Azam, fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi & Naseem Shah and wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed from the Test squad for the last two matches of the series.
The third and final Test of the series will be played in Rawalpindi from October 24.
