Former Pakistan captain and renowned commentator Ramiz Raja on Monday (May 10) said the just-concluded two-match Test series between Pakistan and Zimbabwe was a poor advertisement for the traditional format of the game after tourists clinched the series 2-0 in Harare.
After winning the T20I series 2-1 in Zimbabwe, Babar Azam-led Pakistan team continued their winning streak in the Test series as well – won the first Test by an innings and 116 runs followed by an innings and 147 runs victory in the second and final Test to win the series 2-0 on Monday.
While Zimbabwe repeated the same mistakes in the home series, Pakistan crushed the hosts within three days in both the Test matches and Raja has termed the three-day Test match as a “joke” while suggested the hosts stop playing Test cricket for some time and focus on white-ball cricket.
He further mentioned that such a mismatch series should not take place as it puts more pressure on Test cricket that is already struggling to survive in the modern era, saying the one-sided events are just jokes and it will force the spectators to switch to other sports.
Raja on his YouTube channel: “Some people are of the opinion that when a weak team plays a strong one, you need to focus on what you learn from it rather than the outcome of the match. You learn from the stronger team’s process and the way it adapts to the changing situation of a game.
But I don’t think Zimbabwe learned anything from this series because they were continuously dominated by Pakistan. Also, there was no difference in their performance in the second Test as compared to the first one.”
He further added, “Such mismatch series should not take place. Test cricket is already under pressure and very few people watch it. If you show them such one-sided matches, then they will switch to watching football or other sports. Three-day Test match is a joke.”
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On Zimbabwe, the 1992-World Cup winner noted: “It’s sad to see Zimbabwe’s current state because they were a very competitive team back in the day. Their team in the 1992 World Cup had three or four world-class players who could take the game away from you if proper planning was not done.”
Raja concluded, “There has been a gradual deterioration in their system and structure along with corruption in cricket board. There was also a tussle between black and white people. This performance is a reflection of this deterioration over the past 15-20 years. I hope they do well in the future but for now, they should not play Test cricket and concentrate only on white-ball cricket.”
(With Cricket Pakistan Inputs)
