Pakistan lost their first Test to England by an innings and 103 runs and the meek surrender has been followed by almost existential questions being raised about the former.
Pakistan were all out for just 171 and 135 either side of England scoring 409.
While the batsmen’s lack of ability to deal with the English conditions was at the forefront, former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has also lamented the fact that the country seems to have run out of the fast-bowlers that it has always been famous for.
Pakistan have increasingly relied on spin-friendly tracks at home for winning Tests, a practice that came up during an extraordinary losing streak that they were suffering in matches played at home between 2021 and 2024. Raja, however, said that the practice has led to Pakistan producing a “one-dimensional team”.
“You try to produce a one-dimensional team that can only win on select surfaces. You’ve discouraged pace bowling and because so many players want to play T20s because it is a route to success, they are just not bothered about playing Tests,” Raja said on BBC’s Test Match Special.
Raja, who was part of the Pakistan touring party that won 2-1 in a five-Test series in England in 1992, said that the team had in the past been able to rely on its fast bowlers to bounce back from bad starts to series but he is not sure if this side can do it. “These are desperate times for Pakistan cricket to make a comeback through pace. It has always been our thing; if you discourage the DNA that completes us, what is the point in then playing Tests?” Raja questioned.
Raja also said that Pakistan fans are disenchanted with the performance of the side in Test cricket. “The first pillar has fallen and that is the fans; they are disenchanted, they are not going to back this team and who would? If you lose 17 Tests in the last 20 you have played, nobody is going to back this team,” he said.