"We don't have any such options for our bowlers"- Salman Butt compares pitches in India and Pakistan

Salman Butt feels the pitch in Bengaluru had great help for the bowlers, something which Karachi lacked (P.C. BCCI)
Salman Butt feels the pitch in Bengaluru had great help for the bowlers, something which Karachi lacked (P.C. BCCI)

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt has been disappointed with the way Pakistan have dished out another slow pitch for the second Test in Karachi against Australia. The visitors completely dominated Pakistan on the opening day, scoring 251/3 and are in a very good position to get a first-innings lead.

Salman Butt stressed how much help the bowlers were getting in the ongoing Test between India and Sri Lanka in Bengaluru. Here's what he had to say in a video on his YouTube channel about the Bengaluru pitch:

"(The game in India) There, the bowlers are getting enough help from the pitch. Due to this, the batters have had to adjust their game in such a way that they should score as many runs as possible since there will be one good delivery that will get them out."
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On the other hand, the 37-year-old is frustrated with the lack of help that the Pakistan spinners were getting from the benign Karachi wicket. He added:

"We don't have any such option for our bowlers. Poor Nauman Ali had to once again bowl Steve Smith from outside leg-stump as he got him out in the last Test. Even Sajid was on many times pitching the ball outside leg-stump to Khawaja. This takes LBW out of the equation and you just hope that the batter makes some mistakes. This is not attractive cricket."

Iyer, Pant have handed India a huge advantage: Salman Butt

Salman Butt was impressed with the way Shreyas Iyer applied himself on a rank turner. The 27-year-old scored a classy 92 and helped India get to a more than competitive total of 252.

The 37-year-old also shed light on Rishabh Pant's contribution with the bat and the way he countered the Sri Lankan spin threat. He stated:

"Shreyas Iyer played a really good innings and is a compact player. I read somewhere that he has a first-class strike rate of 80-plus, which is very difficult to maintain consistently. Before him, Pant scored a quickfire 30-odd. These two have given India a huge advantage."

India are in the driver's seat to make it 2-0 and strengthen their position in the World Test Championship points table. Pakistan, however, will need to pick up early wickets on Day 2 in order to prevent Australia from scoring big.

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Edited by Parimal