Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan batsman, has lambasted the team’s think-tank for their “run of the mill” decisions, and the team captain and his bowlers for their field placements, during the first day of the third Test against England in Southampton.
The 58-year-old was answering questions from fans on his YouTube channel after the first session of the day, when he targeted the team’s field placement to new batsmen, which he said wasn’t aggressive enough.
“I’m an old-timer, my thinking is old school, but it’s all about aggression,” he said. “Aggression isn’t bowling bouncers or taking a lot of wickets – it is how you show aggression in the field, the field placements that deny easy singles.
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“From a batting point of view, it’s very easy for a batsman if he can score a run off every ball – he’ll be set in 15 minutes, and can then start hitting boundaries. So I don’t understand this strategy – Yasir Shah is bowling his first ball, and he has a deep point?
“What will happen if you bring that fielder further inside? Maybe the batsman will have to change his angles. And even if you concede a boundary, you’re conceding four singles in the over anyway. I just don’t understand this logic.”
Crawley 150* 😲
Buttler fifty 👏England cruising. #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/zvNRUcX3Gb
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) August 21, 2020
Raja said the team hadn’t learnt from their mistakes in the first Test, when with Pakistan needing five wickets to win, Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler put on 139 runs to help England to a three-wicket win.
“We were punished [in the first Test] when Woakes and Buttler put on that partnership. You’ve to learn from your mistakes, but this set routine their mindset is in … it’s the whole think-tank – the captain, the bowlers – everyone is guilty.
“Does Yasir Shah not know this? He’s played so many Tests, taken so many wickets. Why does he have a fielder at deep point for his very first over? It shows you’ve set your field for poor bowling. So how does the captain and the fielders take confidence from you?
“As a captain, you should resist this field – in the team meetings, he should say, ‘No, I won’t give you this field, even if you concede boundaries. It doesn’t make a difference – you have to bowl six deliveries to a new batsman’.”
Pakistan have plenty of experience in their management. The former captain Misbah-ul-Haq is head coach, Younis Khan, their highest Test run-scorer, is the batting coach, with pace legend Waqar Younis in the set-up as their bowling coach. However, despite the experience, Raja said they hadn’t done anything “new”.
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“This is a new think-tank, and therefore, your thinking must be new,” he said. “Waqar Younis has had a stint before, Misbah-ul-Haq has been around, Younis Khan has played so much cricket – I’m frustrated because even run-of-the-mill coaches can take these decisions.
“There’s a new think-tank in place, the approach should be new. Till you take chances, till you challenge yourself, you won’t become a great team.”
