Pakistan and Bangladesh captains and Dodda Ganesh.
Pakistan and Bangladesh captains and Dodda Ganesh. Image Credit: X

The former Indian fast bowler, Dodda Ganesh, has blamed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for producing flat tracks which have killed the energy of the fans watching Test cricket, as he addressed the country’s home red-ball games as one of the most boring things a crick fan could witness.

Pakistan, who has an outside chance to qualify for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25, started their long home season with a two-match series against Bangladesh, both of which would be playing at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Islamabad.

The issue in the country has been the surfaces, which have hardly helped either of the seamers or the spinners to explore some assistance and help from the surface. In both innings, the batters show their skills to collect truck-loaded runs, which eventually push the result to a boring draw.

“Why do Pakistan produce such insipid pitches?”- Dodda Ganesh

The former Karnataka pacer has questioned the Pakistan cricket team for not producing quality tracks that could see the right balance between bat and ball for the five days. The tracks have been flat, making it quite hard for the bowlers to pick up wickets constantly.

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Winning the toss, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto decided to bowl first on a track that seemed a little grassy with a green color on it. The delayed start and the overnight rain pushed him to go for the decision, and once the bowlers picked up three quick wickets in the game, it felt like the best decision.

But, the 98-run stand for the fourth wicket between Saim Ayub and Saud Shakeel stabilized the innings before the latter shared another huge 240-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Mohammad Rizwan, who stayed unbeaten on 171 runs. The Pakistan captain, Shan Masood, decided to declare the innings on 448/6 as Shakeel celebrated his 141-run knock.

Bangladesh made a decent start before losing two quick wickets on the third day. But, the 94-run stand for the third wicket and the 52-run partnership for the fourth wicket helped them a lot as the opening batter. Shadman Islam missed out on his century by just seven runs.

Litton Das put up a 114-run stand for the sixth wicket with veteran wicket-keeper batter and former captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who later had another marathon stand of 196 runs for the following wicket with Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Rahim fell short of nine runs from a memorable double century, while Miraz showed his batting skills with a 77-run knock.

The visitors took a 117-run lead in the innings, finishing on 565 in 167.3 overs. The Pakistan bowlers toiled hard for success but hardly was able to put pressure on the visiting side.

“Test cricket in Pakistan has to be the most boring thing the cricket fans have witnessed in history. Why do they produce such insipid pitches?” Dodda Ganesh lashed out at the PCB for preparing poor pitches.

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It wasn’t the first time when the Rawalpindi track failed to impress the fans. During Australia’s trip, the opening game found nearly 1200 runs in the game for the fall of only 14 wickets in five days. Pakistan batted first to put up 476/4, in whose reply the tourists reached 459, while the home side got 252/0 in the second innings to end the game in a boring draw.

In the third innings of this ongoing Test against Bangladesh, Pakistan struggled badly, as they went to lunch with 108 runs on the board for the fall of six wickets, being behind by nine runs. The hope stays on Rizwan as the visitors smell memorable victory in the game.