"They will have to do something extraordinary to beat Pakistan" - Aaqib Javed warns visiting teams ahead of PAK vs WI 2025 2nd Test
Pakistan coach Aaqib Javed has declared that their objective is to make the national team unbeatable whenever they play a series on home soil. The former fast bowler asserted that if spinning pitches help them beat the away teams, they will adopt that.
Since losing the Multan Test heavily to England, Pakistan have asked the curators to prepare spin-dominated tracks. While runs have become premium, spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali wreaked havoc on the visiting batters ever since, taking wickets for fun.
Javed stressed that Pakistan should be as difficult to beat at home as South Africa and Australia are in their backyard. At the presser ahead of the second Test against the West Indies, he said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
"We were in South Africa just now, and we came very close to winning a Test. Unfortunately, we couldn't take those last two wickets in Centurion. No spinner played those Tests for us there. It's about winning Tests; that's what matters.
"We think we can prepare these pitches in every center of Pakistan, and it should be as difficult to beat Pakistan here as it is to beat Australia or South Africa away. People should know if they're going to Pakistan, they will have to do something extraordinary to beat Pakistan."
Sajid, Noman, and Abrar Ahmed were equally destructive in the opening Test against the West Indies. The 141-run partnership between Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan was the bedrock of Pakistan's first-innings total of 230.
"We will change domestic pitches too" - Aaqib Javed
Javed also said that Pakistan must improve their batting against spin until the next home season, adding:
"Even though foreign players are struggling with spin pitches from abroad, so are our players, because they have never played on these pitches. Moving forward, we have told them their training and practice routines will be geared towards this, and we will change domestic pitches too. Our next Test is not until October, so that gives them time to improve their batting."
A win in the second Test, that starts on Saturday, will help the hosts end their WTC cycle on a high, having lost hopes of reaching the final.