‘Pakistan should use home conditions’

KARACHI: Former cricketer Jalaluddin has said that the Test series against England would be interesting and the visitors would have a slight edge.

Talking to 'The News' on Wednesday, he said that England are stronger than Pakistan in many ways "but at the same time Pakistan have the advantage of home ground which should be exploited".

Jalal said that England side looked better. "They have wonderful batters, all-rounders and fast bowlers. But history tells us that English team has always struggled on Pakistani pitches. We should exploit their weaknesses and prepare such tracks which suit our spin bowlers and also help our batting line-up," he said.

Jalal said that except James Anderson, all England players are visiting Pakistan for the first time for Test matches. "Therefore, we should take advantage of their inexperience of Pakistani pitches. Fast and seaming tracks would not suit us. On such tracks Anderson, Ben Stokes and other fast bowlers of England would create problems for us," said the former fast bowler.

He was of the view that Pakistani curators prepare tracks which create problems for the hosts in last days of Test matches.

He warned that it should be kept in mind that Pakistan batters also do not have a good record on spin tracks. "We don't have today Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Muddasar Nazar, Inzamamul Haq, Muhammad Yousuf or Younis Khan who had the ability to bat on all types of tracks. We should also keep eyes on English spinners who are new for our batting line and nobody knows about their skills," said Jalal.

He further said that the selection committee should not ignore Fawad Alam. "He scored four centuries after return to Test cricket and proved his ability. He should not be ignored for a couple of unsuccessful innings," he added.

He also said that Yasir Shah is a wonderful leg-spinner and should not be wasted.

Jalal said that Pakistan should have one leg-spinner and one left-arm spinner with two fast bowlers. "It is a good combination and can get England out twice," he added.