Michael Atherton skeptical about Rawalpindi pitch mirroring Multan conditions

Former England captain Michael Atherton has raised doubts over the behaviour of the Rawalpindi pitch for the third Test, suggesting that it may not be as spin-friendly as the pitch in Multan.

The Test series between Pakistan and England is currently tied 1-1, with the third match set to be played from 24th to 28th October at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat by an innings and 47 runs in the series opener in Multan. The home side made an array of changes for the remainder of the series, including dropping their star batter Babar Azam and ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Domestic performer Kamran Ghulam made his long-awaited debut during the second Test against England, while spin bowlers Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Zahid Mahmood made their return to the Test side.

The home team also instructed groundsmen to make a spin-friendly pitch, which along with team changes as spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali shared 20 wickets to steer Pakistan to their first Test victory at home since February 2021.

The groundsmen in Rawalpindi are also working to create a similar pitch, however, Atherton highlighted that this pitch is traditionally pace-friendly and would not behave like Multan’s.

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“I believe it will be a very good pitch for the first couple of days. Clearly, they are trying to bake it to encourage spin; that much is obvious,” said Atherton during a conversation on Sky Sports.

“However, Pindi has a reputation for being one of the flattest pitches around. This pitch is not used, so they cannot replicate the conditions we saw in Multan, where the game effectively started on the sixth day.”

“While I expect the pitch to start spinning at some point, I think it will be quite good for batting during the first half of the match. This could signal a return to the more traditional style of cricket here, where the game progresses normally for two or three days before the conditions begin to change.”

It’s worth noting that Pakistan have announced an unchanged Playing XI, while England have added an additional spinner to take advantage of the conditions.

Pakistan Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vc), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood.

England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.

READ: Pakistan name unchanged Playing XI for third Test against England