[EXCLUSIVE] “Spin-friendly pitches will harm Pakistan’s fast bowlers": Mohammad Abbas

[Ball Blazer]

In our latest exclusive interview, Mohammad Abbas, Pakistan’s seasoned Test pace legend with 784 first-class wickets and a stellar county cricket career, opens up about Pakistan cricket’s pressing issues, his journey, and the road ahead. Fresh off a five-wicket haul for Nottinghamshire and a national team recall, Abbas shares candid insights on nurturing fast bowlers, the pitfalls of spin-friendly pitches, and the importance of stability in Pakistan cricket. Key topics include:

• Why spin-friendly pitches threaten Pakistan’s fast-bowling legacy?
• “Why do more work when you can earn more?” – The T20 vs first-class cricket dilemma
• How county cricket’s high standards sharpen skills for international cricket?
• Addressing criticism: “Do a little homework first!”
• The alarming decline of fast bowlers’ interest in 4-day cricket.
• Stability in management: Why 3-5 years of continuity is crucial?
• “My first priority is my country, Pakistan” – Abbas’ unwavering commitment

Don’t miss this unfiltered conversation as Mohammad Abbas dissects Pakistan’s cricketing challenges and shares solutions to revive its fast-bowling dominance. Watch the full interview with Saj here:

 

[cricfan432]

Not in domestics, we'll have green tops in domestics. I think this is the only way to defeat SENA, anyways whenever we try producing seam pitches we end up producing flat ones playing into hands of opposition

 

[The Bald Eagle]

I think our fast bowlers won't be able to win any Test by themselves so until then we would have no choice but to carry on with spin pitches. Instead it is a great opportunity for fast bowlers to adapt in a hostile environment for them

 

[Cricket Warrior]

One of the best red ball bowlers Pakistan has ever produced but unfortunately PCB didnt utilize him well

https://twitter.com/x/status/1924867123752362383

 

[sweep_shot]

Pakistan should have a variety of pitches. Some should be flat. Some should be spin-friendly. Some should be pace-friendly.

Karachi, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Lahore - have 5 different pitches for these 5 grounds (if possible).

 

[cricketAXEpert]

One of the best red ball bowlers Pakistan has ever produced but unfortunately PCB didnt utilize him well

https://twitter.com/x/status/1924867123752362383

Should have been a regular, should have been our main test pacer. But the test squad is being run with no vision (heck PCB forgot to schedule any tests this year). Test captain (Shan Masood) is someone who doesn't even qualify as a player (pathetic test batting average). Due to lack of test matches and any long term planning, Pakistan in Test cricket has sunk to it's lowest ever. Currently at the bottom.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Abbas should play each test match now... He is close to retirement and should be utilized to his full potential. No need to rest him for home games by making a 100-degree rank turners. Even if it is a spin track, abbas should play.

 

[cricfan432]

Gone are the days when pak was ahead of the world in fast bowling due to reverse swing, now all teams know reverse swing. It's not practical to think Pak fast bowlers will be ahead of the world because SENAW bowl day in day out in conditions suitable to fast bowling, so ofcourse they'll be better than pak fast bowlers. So pakistan strenghth is and should be spin atleast in home conditions, otherwise SENAW fast bowlers will outbowl pak fast bowlers.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

The brilliance of Abbas

 

[BouncerGuy]

Every bowler has their own opinion about the pitches. Maybe Pakistan should be doing what is best for the team.. But our boy Abbas has got skills to excel on any kind of pitch.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Mohammad Abbas has been named in the PCA Teams of the Month for May.

Mohammad Abbas picked up 16 Championship wickets at just 18.81 apiece in his first three games playing for Nottinghamshire.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Mohammad Abbas, the silent performer who hardly gets enough chances in Pakistan Test side, glimpses of his great performance in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2025

 

[jnaveen1980]

Pakistan spinners are no better than spinners from touring side. So far toss wins and opponents not getting used to conditions soon enough help them eke out wins. IN the near future you can expect series wins for touring teams. 40 year old spin uncles will be unravelled by other touring teams if they lose a few tosses.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

Mohammad Abbas, the silent performer who hardly gets enough chances in Pakistan Test side, glimpses of his great performance in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2025

The best bowler in Pak who even got a 10-fer in UAE is being wasted in below par first class cricket while we are playing with 3 spinners & losing against world champions of test cricket.

Absolute cinema.

 

[charlie007]

In most cases, it doesn’t matter much what kind of pitches you make if you don’t have better quality players than the opposition. Pakistan was producing spin supporting tracks during the days of Abdul Qadir, Kaneria, Yasir Shah, Saqlain, Mushy, and Ajmal and even in those matches the pacers were skilled enough to get reverse swing and get wickets. Now the quality of bowling has gone down in both departments.
Another issue is that you can’t create big spinning pitches because your own batters can’t play spin better. It just becomes a coin toss, even literally. See how badly India’s spin strategy backfired against New Zealand!!
The only way is to get better, until then the results will be sporadic.

 

[TheSultan]

Every bowler has their own opinion about the pitches. Maybe Pakistan should be doing what is best for the team.. But our boy Abbas has got skills to excel on any kind of pitch.

Err no he hasn’t - on a flat pancake he’s useless, on a spin pitch he’s useless (despite bowling at the pace of a spinner), on a bouncy pitch he’s useless.

Green seamer - yes, that’s where you bring someone like Abbas in as the 3rd-4th seamer

 

[Kianig89]

Abass is right where are the damn bowlers , series drawn 1-1 apart from SSA wiping the SA tail once , what did the pacers did? Zilch.

Fast bowling is dead in Pakistan

Naseem Rauf Hasnain graduated a long time ago, the cupboard is empty

 

[Savak]

Pakistan beat South Africa in 2021 in Pindi and that pitch had sufficient green for Hassan Ali, Shaheen Afridi to exploit. Pakistan won the game.

However the problem with our pacers i.e. Shaheen, Naseem, Hassan Ali, Khurram Shehzad, Mohd Ali is that either they are green juice dependent or are T-20 4 over bowlers who cannot sustain their speeds, intensity from their second spell onwards. Preparing green wickets for bowlers who don't have Test Match bowling fitness is pointless.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Lol what happened to Abbas? He bowled one of his best spells in South Africa and then fell off the face of the earth. What did he do to have Hasan Ali preferred over him? Is taking a 6-fer against South Africa really that big of a crime?

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Lol what happened to Abbas? He bowled one of his best spells in South Africa and then fell off the face of the earth. What did he do to have Hasan Ali preferred over him? Is taking a 6-fer against South Africa really that big of a crime?

Another day, another fifer for him but who cares in PCB...Pity

https://twitter.com/x/status/1983874486517821459

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Another day, another fifer for him but who cares in PCB...Pity

https://twitter.com/x/status/1983874486517821459

Dominating in first-class cricket, yet can't find a place in Pakistan's rotten test team full of players who don't even play first-class cricket. Only in Pakistan.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Abbas is the leading wicket taker atm in QEA after the fifth round ends...

23 wickets on the pitches where there is literally no support for bowlers.. PCB has wasted this guy.