PCB's lack of intent hinders Pakistan's WTC campaign

The PCB were left hanging their heads in shame after Pakistan capitulated on the final day of the Lahore Test. With the series on the line, Pakistan's defeat enabled Australia to break their recent jinx against Pakistan.

It was Australia's first away series win against Pakistan in their last three attempts. For the home team, it was a tough pill to swallow given how badly they needed the points to maintain their run this WTC season. Pakistan fell from second to fifth as Australia and South Africa gained ground.

PCB defensive from day one

PCB lacked any intent to force a result in the series as they were happy to end the series without any setback. They failed to utilize their bargaining skills as Australia managed to pick Lahore and Rawalpindi as two of the venues. Neither of these two venues gave Pakistan a chance to compete against Australia given the seam-friendly nature of these wickets. Subsequently, they were forced to prepare dead wickets to nullify any advantage to their opponents.

PCB were yet again gutless as they failed to restructure their schedule with the one-dayers ahead of the Test matches. Apart from their four Test team regulars, the rest of the team came into the series straight from the PSL.

For players like Mohammad Rizwan, Abdullah Shafiq and Shaheen Shah Afridi, they came into the series within a week of competing in the PSL final. PCB failed to account for the change in formats and workload of the players by convening the Test series ahead of the one-dayers.

Ramiz Raja fails to deliver on his promise

Ramiz Raja, the current PCB chairman, arrived as the country's cricketing head with a vociferous demand for restricting Pakistani pitches. While it is true that Pakistani pitches over the last decade have yielded extreme results, Raja barely did anything during the off-season when the country went to play in Bangladesh.

Despite confirming his faith in an attacking brand of cricket, he found solace in ensuring that Pakistan avoided defeat to Australia under the current circumstances.

However, the quality of pitches prepared barely aided the home team's strength, with only Lahore displaying an element of turn on the final day. The remaining fourteen days of cricket yielded only 65 wickets, with almost a quarter of them falling to reverse swing. Essentially, it was a Test series that Pakistan wanted to escape from.

Subsequently, Pakistan dropped vital points in the WTC which will definitely hamper their prospects of playing in the final of the competition. And one party that has to take the blame for it is the cricket board.