Nasser Hussain Advises Pakistan to Stick With Winning Formula

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has called Pakistan’s win over England a “much-needed” one and advised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to stick with the winning formula.

The cricketer-turned-commentator made his feelings known while dissecting Pakistan’s win over England in the second test match at Multan.

During his post-match analysis, Nasser underlined the importance of the win before shifting his focus to the debate about the pitch. Pakistan had opted to reuse the same playing surface for the second test as well to bring its spinners into play which paid dividends.

Nasser criticized the decision to prepare batting surfaces in Pakistan which is not generally considered the Green Shirts’ strength and implored them to stick with turning wickets at home to improve their win record.

“You cannot tell me that last week was better viewing than this week. You cannot tell me if you are a local in this part of the world, you are gonna come in 40 degree heat and watch 560 play 800. You wanna come in and watch your side play and win on a pitch that offers something” he said.

Nasser did not shy away from making his feelings known during his commentary stint as well, criticizing former Chairman PCB Ramiz Raja for veering from the winning formula.

Pakistan, just like the rest of the Asian teams, has relied on pitches that offer some turn to let spinners lose and win games at home particularly against Western teams who have struggled against this art of bowling.

That pattern was broken when Ramiz took over and batting wickets started propping up all over Pakistan with record-breaking scoring becoming a norm.

With the trend continuing in the first game, Pakistan seems to have finally found some sense which should align with beliefs of experts such as Nasser Hussain.

A similar track is expected when the two teams face each other in the decider in Rawalpindi.