The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and its chairman, Ramiz Raja, have once again found themselves in hot water after four centuries were scored on the opening day of the first Test against England at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday (December 1).
After a lot of speculation due to illness in the England camp because of an unknown virus, the first Test of the historic three-match Test series got underway on Thursday in Rawalpindi.
Well, it was a delightful day for the tourists, as their batters brutally hit the Pakistani bowlers to end the first day at 506/4 in just 75 overs. There was no support for the bowlers, as four England batters notched up hundreds on day one of the first Test in Rawalpindi.
Notably, Zack Crawley (122), Ben Duckett (107), Ollie Pope (108), and Harry Brook (101*) all scored centuries to help England finish the day at stumps on a mammoth total against Pakistan. On the other hand, Zahid Mahmood snared two wickets, while Mohammad Ali and Haris Rauf scalped one wicket each for Pakistan.
Witnessing such a one-sided battle at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, fans and former cricketers fumed at the PCB and Raja for preparing a flat pitch for the historic Test match, as England is playing a Test match in Pakistan after 17 years. Raja had promised to prepare competitive pitches for the Test matches after they were slammed for similar decks during the Australia Test series, but nothing changed.
Raja has been receiving flack on social media for preparing a dead pitch and trying to kill Test cricket, with the former pacer Shoaib Akhtar describing the Pindi pitch by saying: “Indus Valley Civilization roads probably were juicier and had more life in them.”
Here are few Twitter reactions –
