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[PICTURES] Is this all-spinners attack strategy sustainable for a longer period?

Will Pakistan's all-spinners attack strategy be sustainable?

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FearlessRoar

FearlessRoar

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Ramiz Raja speaking to TMS (BBC):

"I've really not cracked the code regarding a Test match pitch, unfortunately and am absolutely disappointed with this Rawalpindi pitch."

To

Aaqib Javed said during interview with a local media outlet:

"What's your formula for a Test match? Do you have 3 spinners? Play them. Remove all the grass, and make it a dry pitch. Make it rough. Keep brushing it. They will lose, won't they? They will. 100 percent, they will lose. The second thing is the reverse swing. Again, dry out the square -- it will spin and it will reverse. They can't win."

It appears Aaqib's all-spinner attack strategy is paying off, aided by the dry pitch conditions.

Pakistan's spin duo dismantled England's batting line-up, securing a 152-run victory in the second Test at Multan.

Noman Ali [3/101 & 8/46] claimed impressive match bowling figures of 11/147, while Sajid Khan [7/111 & 2/93] secured 9/204. This achievement marks only the seventh instance in Test history, and the first since 1972, where two bowlers have shared all 20 wickets.

I think Pakistan's reliance on spinners, while effective now, may not be sustainable long-term. We need to consider a few things:

- Our attack becomes predictable without pace variety
- Pitch conditions greatly impact spinner effectiveness
- Noman Ali's retirement looms as he is 38 now and we need a replacement.

Pakistan's spin legends, like Abdul Qadir and Saqlain Mushtaq, succeeded with pace support. Let's learn from history and adapt for long-term success.
 
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Not really that was a fluke win , we have no strategy so far, this attack is not even on one leg
 
Should work against Eng who are rubbish against spin. Might not work against NZ, Australia, SL and BD
 
Josh said:
Should work against Eng who are rubbish against spin. Might not work against NZ, Australia, SL and BD
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Australia average less against spin per wicket in Asia than England do.
 
At home I have no worries with this approach. It's precisely these kinds of pitches that made the UAE a fortress once upon a time and it has taken them far too long to go back to what works.

However they will also need to groom pacers for SENA conditions. In the long run they can try and create the odd seaming pitch though leaving grass on the wicket will be a struggle under the baking hot sun.

In SENA itself they can try and introduce new pace talent in the form of bilaterals, and identify from there if the talent is ready for tests.
 
Who cares about the long run?
Had not won a home test in 3 years. 11 Tests. Need to do whatever it takes to get over the line.
 
Im always prefer low scoring matches .

Pakistan pace attacks is All time low so better to prepare spin friendly pitches at home.
 
jeeteshssaxena said:
Effective when you get to bat first and ineffective if you don’t.

Basically depends on the side the coin lands.
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It can be negated if they develop players who are equipped to play spin and deal with a bit of reverse, if they want to bring back players like Babar then the strategy is flawed
 
The spin twins

Noman Ali and Sajid Khan star in Pakistan's historic Test series victory!

AmUkeZh.jpg
 
I think 2-2 pace spinner combo with dry pitch aiding spin and reverse is way to go in future however our pace attacks needs to be improved it’s awful right now
 
depends where they will play... now do u think in SA our spinners will be that much effective as they were in Pak?
 
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2 genuine pacers, 1 medium pace allrounder and 2 spinners is the best combo ever.
 
If it helps proper batsmen graft to their 100s and leave the slogging for the tailenders
If it maintains a balance between bowl and bat that keeps those two skills in an ever lasting equilibrium
If it means utilising middle age bowlers who have toiled away on the domestic scene for years without recognition
If it means winning ugly and playing to win rather than to entertain.
Pakistan shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and examine its cavities
 
gazza619 said:
2 genuine pacers, 1 medium pace allrounder and 2 spinners is the best combo ever.
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honestly speaking I am ok with 2 genuine pacers and 2 spinners.... keeping a fast bowling all rounder like Aamer Jamal is just a waste of spot who cant even bat or ball so why not pick any extra batter in his place who can atleast consolidate ur batting order.
 
Cricket Warrior said:
honestly speaking I am ok with 2 genuine pacers and 2 spinners.... keeping a fast bowling all rounder like Aamer Jamal is just a waste of spot who cant even bat or ball so why not pick any extra batter in his place who can atleast consolidate ur batting order.
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Jamal was not needed on the rank turner. But he will defo be needed in SA.
 
At home and against SENA teams absolutely.

Against Asian teams will need to tinker.
 
Zahir Mehmood spot was a waste. We could play another all rounder in that slot to give even more depth to batting. That will taking batting to number 11 since Nauman and Sajid can also bat decently.
 
It can work mainly at home against SENA countries, which are not very good with spin. But, Noman is 38 and Sajid is 31-32 so we need to find some genuine spinners now. Not some trundlers and mediocre full-toss throwers like Shadab or Zahid Mahmood.

Do we have such spinners who can spin the ball and can vary their pace to trouble the batters??
 
BouncerGuy said:
It can work mainly at home against SENA countries, which are not very good with spin. But, Noman is 38 and Sajid is 31-32 so we need to find some genuine spinners now. Not some trundlers and mediocre full-toss throwers like Shadab or Zahid Mahmood.

Do we have such spinners who can spin the ball and can vary their pace to trouble the batters??
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Sajid can play for a good 5 years.

Zafar gohar needs to replace Nouma chacha after a year
 
BouncerGuy said:
It can work mainly at home against SENA countries, which are not very good with spin. But, Noman is 38 and Sajid is 31-32 so we need to find some genuine spinners now. Not some trundlers and mediocre full-toss throwers like Shadab or Zahid Mahmood.

Do we have such spinners who can spin the ball and can vary their pace to trouble the batters??
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Lottery pitches like this will bring opposition spinners in to action , England made grave mistake of playing useless Bashir in place of Hartley. Hype surrounding Bashir of taking few wickets in India blinded them ,he did took wickets but at cost of more runs given. Also other countries have much better spinners than England and definitely much better fast bowlers than Pakistan. Remember India lost almost all test played on lottery pitches like this.
 
It will work just as well as it does for other countries that prepare bouncy or seaming wickets at home, and these teams manage to perform abroad by adapting. Pakistan shouldn’t feel any guilt or shame about having spin-friendly tracks. There’s no need for that—embrace your own legacy and strengths with pride.
 
Pakistan is set to play another Test in Multan and has multiple spin option including Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Abrar Ahmed and the talented wrist spinner Sufiyan. Will this strategy work this time?
 
This is right strategy to win Test series at home. Home points are important.
I would go with two specialist spinners , and one spin all rounder.
 
Lol india's been doing this since they have started playing cricket.

It's the right approach as Pakistani fast bowlers are just not good enough.
 
Absolutely fine against all sena teams.
Too bad India doesn't tour that would be interesting.
Only thing missing to complement this all spin dry surface is having one real fast bowlers who could reverse as well.
 
Will be good for Shan to improve his record, go for spin wickets beware of Motie etc
 
BouncerGuy said:
Yep...trying to keep moisture away I think...Dry pitches mean spin friendly tracks.
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Pakistan is pioneering some ground-breaking innovations in pitch preparation. :yk3

Amazing to think that until a few months ago we were producing horrible flat decks that made everyone hate Test cricket in this country.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Pakistan is pioneering some ground-breaking innovations in pitch preparation. :yk3

Amazing to think that until a few months ago we were producing horrible flat decks that made everyone hate Test cricket in this country.
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So who is to be blamed we all know its ramiz and babar who made all those fake and lie claims that pak doesn't know or cant produce spin wickets and genius aqib just came right away produced dry spin wickets vs england and won them a series that means ramiz was doing it deliberately to protect babar right?
 
Aqib_mustafa said:
So who is to be blamed we all know its ramiz and babar who made all those fake and lie claims that pak doesn't know or cant produce spin wickets and genius aqib just came right away produced dry spin wickets vs england and won them a series that means ramiz was doing it deliberately to protect babar right?
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I have heard this rumour too. Can't say for sure. But someone that you can definitely blame is Ramiz.
 
Pak only has 2 more tests after this for the next 14 months (unless they schedule anything on the fly)

Test cricket is dead in Pak, it's like if the sun dies now we will only notice this after 8 minutes. Similarly test cricket has died but we will only notice it after a few years.

Shambolic scheduling, unattractive fast bowling, & epic losses in Aus/RSA have ensured the end of our test cricket. No amount of heaters can add heat to this flailing corpse of an entity.
 
GoUgandaCranes said:
Pak only has 2 more tests after this for the next 14 months (unless they schedule anything on the fly)

Test cricket is dead in Pak, it's like if the sun dies now we will only notice this after 8 minutes. Similarly test cricket has died but we will only notice it after a few years.

Shambolic scheduling, unattractive fast bowling, & epic losses in Aus/RSA have ensured the end of our test cricket. No amount of heaters can add heat to this flailing corpse of an entity.
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Agree this random heater strategy will not help revive test cricket in this country we lost test cricket the day are pacers stopped taking 20 wickets consistently in all conditions
 
Xoib said:
Agree this random heater strategy will not help revive test cricket in this country we lost test cricket the day are pacers stopped taking 20 wickets consistently in all conditions
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Why the hell pak need pacers india prepare spin tracks they dont say pacers are dying who cares about pacers when your spinners are world class on spinning pitch they would beat anyone single handingly so back your spinners they would make pak unbeatable at home.
 
Aqib_mustafa said:
Why the hell pak need pacers india prepare spin tracks they dont say pacers are dying who cares about pacers when your spinners are world class on spinning pitch they would beat anyone single handingly so back your spinners they would make pak unbeatable at home.
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Yup! SENA teams unapologetically make seaming pitches which have nothing for spinners. Has cricket died there? Lol
 
That is your right. You can make a supportive wicket when a team is coming to your home for a series. Nothing wrong with that.
 
Pakistan's Playing XI announced for the 1st Test against West Indies, Pakistan going with 3 proper spinners but only one pacer, So is it the right strategy?
 
Looking at how pace bowlers of the West Indies are bowling atm, Shan might have missed a trick. Jayden has been bowling beautifully here... 3 wickets fell and 2 were taken were a pacer.

This all spin strategy could back fire for Pakistan.
 
Once again Pakistan batters gifting wickets like they playing club cricket.
 
4 wickets down for west indies and all of them were Sajid Khan's beauties... Spin working fine for Pakistan atm.
 
BouncerGuy said:
4 wickets down for west indies and all of them were Sajid Khan's beauties... Spin working fine for Pakistan atm.
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Why is this even a thread 🤣
Pakistan has no option but to adopt this strategy.
Start domination at home, build confidence and then take the confidence abroad. Make winning a habit.
Fast bowlers will be fresh too.
 
BouncerGuy said:
4 wickets down for west indies and all of them were Sajid Khan's beauties... Spin working fine for Pakistan atm.
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Why is this even a thread 🤣
Pakistan has no option but to adopt this strategy.
Start domination at home, build confidence and then take the confidence abroad. Make winning a habit.

SENA make seaming pitches at home. They also know in Asia they will get trial by spin. They don’t change their wickets to spin at home to prepare for it!!
 
This is the better option. Slow pitches that turn big.

On typical flat Pakistani pitches, they'll get outbowled by even Bangladesh seamers.
 
Obviously we should have done thos ages ago but the main problem is WE cant play spin ourselves and that is the issue they havent made it b4
 
Warrican took 7-fer in the 2nd inning to blow out the Pakistan batting lineup... Spin strategy is working for both teams. Time for Pakistan to make use of the condition and win the game... Sajid and noman should be able to make it happen
 
If we lose a couple of tosses and have to bat last this strategy will soon come to an end too.
 
Spin strategy is working for Pakistan. Why do you need a pacer then.

Since Naseem Shah dismissed Jamie Smith in the first Test in Multan last year, no Pakistan fast bowler has taken a wicket at home. 57 consecutive wickets to spinners now.
 
BouncerGuy said:
Spin strategy is working for Pakistan. Why do you need a pacer then.

Since Naseem Shah dismissed Jamie Smith in the first Test in Multan last year, no Pakistan fast bowler has taken a wicket at home. 57 consecutive wickets to spinners now.
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If it ain't broken don't fix it, the crux of Aqiball
 
Disgraceful pitches. What a low standard we have. Make pitches where we can't bat either. So only time our players ESP new ones will be tested on pace is abroad.

I don't get why we can't make pitches like SA. We almost beat them, I'm sure we'd beat WI. Instead of tracks where our own batting is not even making 160 against a trash WI attack.
 
Many posters here won’t appreciate these pitches because Rizwan and Babar aren’t scoring runs, yet Pakistan are still winning. They’d prefer the pitches prepared during Ramiz’s time, where Babar was piling on runs with ease, but Pakistan were losing.
 
We should ve started this earlier as we could ve made it to wtc final
We can definitely make it to 26 final if things dont go wrong from here
 
Right now the most important thing for Pakistan is to win wherever they can and if the spin strategy can give Pakistan the best opportunity to win consistently at home then they must stick to it. Pakistan has to keep its local fans and sponsors interested in the game. That must be the priority. Long term can be planned once things stabilise and this has seen some winning.
 
Spinning pitches are good
Don't care about Babar and others average
Needs to win all tests at home so we can have a shot at next WTC final
 
Bhaijaan said:
Right now the most important thing for Pakistan is to win wherever they can and if the spin strategy can give Pakistan the best opportunity to win consistently at home then they must stick to it. Pakistan has to keep its local fans and sponsors interested in the game. That must be the priority. Long term can be planned once things stabilise and this has seen some winning.
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Exactly after ages fans have shown interest in tests just because of this and they are finding new heroes in Sajid khan and nauman. Let people enjoy let the viewership rise and then we can continue from there on.

After ct 25 test matches in renovated gaddafi with spinning pitches will bring in audience. Make entry free for first three days. Let fans come and experience it. Bring in ur retired cricketers for fans interaction. Make sure public is as involved as they can be. And this will be more than enough to sustain cricket in pakistan.
 
It is ... In Sajid/Nomi/Abrar we have 3 skillful spinners that cover all the bases in variety

Play to your strengths and spin teams out to win at home consistently
 
There's no value in losing on a "good pitch" because in the end you still lost.

If it keeps producing results, there's nothing wrong with using this strategy at home. For those worried about developing pacers or batsmen for bouncy/swinging tracks, that needs to be handled through Pakistan A tours + having a diversity of pitches at the domestic level.

Secure your home first and then worry about foreign conditions.
 
Nothing short of pitch doctoring by the PCB. Test matches being over in 2-3 days on average. All sorts of tricks and doctoring being done to artificially create a spinning pitch. This is terribly low, especially for a country that has a proud fast bowling tradition.

Rather than induce confidence for away tours, as some members allege, Pakistani batsmen will stand exposed and Pakistan cricket will be humiliated outside Pakistan. Mark my words.
 
chinaman00 said:
Nothing short of pitch doctoring by the PCB. Test matches being over in 2-3 days on average. All sorts of tricks and doctoring being done to artificially create a spinning pitch. This is terribly low, especially for a country that has a proud fast bowling tradition.

Rather than induce confidence for away tours, as some members allege, Pakistani batsmen will stand exposed and Pakistan cricket will be humiliated outside Pakistan. Mark my words.
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we couldn't win at home forever and you're whining about winning away ... every serious team is first GREAT at home then they look to get better away
 
chinaman00 said:
Nothing short of pitch doctoring by the PCB. Test matches being over in 2-3 days on average. All sorts of tricks and doctoring being done to artificially create a spinning pitch. This is terribly low, especially for a country that has a proud fast bowling tradition.

Rather than induce confidence for away tours, as some members allege, Pakistani batsmen will stand exposed and Pakistan cricket will be humiliated outside Pakistan. Mark my words.
Click to expand...

Sadly the team was being humiliated outside Pakistan anyway.

I would say winning 2-1 against England gave them confidence to almost win that 1st Test in South Africa. We can't underestimate the value of momentum and positivity within the Test squad.

They're starting from 0 here and learning how to win.
 
Pakistan strength lies with its spinners

So its fair we make conditions tailor made foe our trump card

Most times we've created a pacer pitch or flat pitch our fast bowlers have been mullered and the team simply outbatted us and posted huge scores.

Until we find the pacers I think it's best we go with our trump card the 50yr old chacha , harry Potter and tindoo.
 
chinaman00 said:
Nothing short of pitch doctoring by the PCB. Test matches being over in 2-3 days on average. All sorts of tricks and doctoring being done to artificially create a spinning pitch. This is terribly low, especially for a country that has a proud fast bowling tradition.

Rather than induce confidence for away tours, as some members allege, Pakistani batsmen will stand exposed and Pakistan cricket will be humiliated outside Pakistan. Mark my words.
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O yas

Pakistan are match winners abroad just white washed SA in SA and white washed Australia in Australia last year
 
Hyder said:
Exactly after ages fans have shown interest in tests just because of this and they are finding new heroes in Sajid khan and nauman. Let people enjoy let the viewership rise and then we can continue from there on.

After ct 25 test matches in renovated gaddafi with spinning pitches will bring in audience. Make entry free for first three days. Let fans come and experience it. Bring in ur retired cricketers for fans interaction. Make sure public is as involved as they can be. And this will be more than enough to sustain cricket in pakistan.
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Superb.
Pakistan has to really nurture brand cricket in the country. Let there be no more negativity. Difficult times call for extra ordinary efforts and everyone must put the nation and the game above their personal ego for this. Pakistan as a country needs a lot of these positive vibes. Small steps towards nation building.
 
FearlessRoar said:
Lets invite Australia to Pakistan for 5 Test series
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I think it would be a good one.
Should definitely start with minimum 4 tests and if it’s 4, it would be amazing. 5 sounds a bit too ambitious.
 
Bhaijaan said:
Right now the most important thing for Pakistan is to win wherever they can and if the spin strategy can give Pakistan the best opportunity to win consistently at home then they must stick to it. Pakistan has to keep its local fans and sponsors interested in the game. That must be the priority. Long term can be planned once things stabilise and this has seen some winning.
Click to expand...
Yeh this is fair.

But I know the PCB. Rather than treating it as a short term band aid they will think the problem is solved and now this kind of rigged pitch will be the way forward.
 
chinaman00 said:
Nothing short of pitch doctoring by the PCB. Test matches being over in 2-3 days on average. All sorts of tricks and doctoring being done to artificially create a spinning pitch. This is terribly low, especially for a country that has a proud fast bowling tradition.

Rather than induce confidence for away tours, as some members allege, Pakistani batsmen will stand exposed and Pakistan cricket will be humiliated outside Pakistan. Mark my words.
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Bilkul.

These guys are turkeys voting for Christmas.

Flipping Jomel Warican picked up a 7fer here.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Yeh this is fair.

But I know the PCB. Rather than treating it as a short term band aid they will think the problem is solved and now this kind of rigged pitch will be the way forward.
Click to expand...

The pitches should have something for everyone but must ensure the spinners get help as the test match progresses. We don’t want to unnecessarily deprive good batters from making any runs whatsoever.

Ideally the pitches must be identical to what the domestic players are used to.
 
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