Pitches prepared as Babar desired: Raja

KARACHI: Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has shifted responsibility for the underwhelming home pitches during his tenure to then-captain Babar Azam, despite having defended the surface conditions in the past.

Speaking during a BBC Test Match Special broadcast amid the second Test between Pakistan and England in Multan, Raja indicated that Babar played an important role in pitch-related decisions.

Raja highlighted Babar as the central figure in establishing the pitch strategy during Pakistan’s series against Australia. “I wasn’t really bossing the pitch preparation,” Raja said. “I was only listening to Babar. When he’d walk into my room, I’d ask him what plans he had to beat Australia. He came up with the strategy, and even though I sometimes questioned it, he was the captain at the end of the day.”

Raja also emphasised the unpredictability of pitch conditions, stating, “It becomes a guessing game when you do not know the nature of a pitch. You can’t really plan for an assault if the pitch is not going to behave properly or to your liking and to your strength. And that’s been the major reason for Pakistan’s debacle at home. The pitches have not really responded to the kind of talent that you picked to perform.”

Raja, during his tenure, was widely considered as the primary authority behind the decisions that led to international criticism of Pakistan’s pitches for being too flat and lifeless, particularly during the first Test against Australia in Rawalpindi. That match ended in a high-scoring draw, with only 14 wickets falling over five days.

Despite this, Raja had defended the pitch strategy, asserting that it was designed to protect Pakistan’s limited resources against Australia’s formidable bowling attack. “A drawn match is never a good advertisement for Test cricket, and I totally understand that we need to get a result in five days,” Raja said after the Rawalpindi Test in March 2022. “But just for the heck of it, we can’t prepare a fast pitch or a bouncy pitch and put the game in Australia’s lap.”

Babar – later in the same year during the series against England – said that he didn’t get the pitches he wanted. “We have a lot of input in the pitch, but we didn’t get the pitch we wanted. We couldn’t execute our plans. We wanted a turning pitch, but perhaps because of the weather and preparation, that sort of wicket couldn’t be created,” Babar said after Rawalpindi Test in December 2022. During his BBC TMS appearance, Ramiz Raja also assessed Babar Azam’s captaincy. While praising Babar’s leadership in white-ball cricket, Raja expressed frustration with his performance in Test matches.

“Partly, I rated him,” Raja said. “He did well in white-ball cricket, but not so much in Tests. I was frustrated at times with how he set the field and managed things.” However, Raja acknowledged Babar’s ability to maintain composure in the dressing room during challenging times. “One great thing about Babar Azam was that he held the calm of the dressing room together. They all responded to him when he had the backing of the board,” Raja added.