Azhar Mahmood drills down his own PCB for Rawalpindi pitch vs Bangladesh

Pakistan assistant coach Azhar Mahmood has lashed out at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for providing a flat and slow pitch for the first Test against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi.

Currently, Pakistan and Bangladesh are facing each other in the first Test of the series. The pitch has been a struggle for the bowlers from both sides.

Apart from the new ball, there is not much in it for the fast bowlers or the spinners to create an impact.

Pakistan went on to declare at 448-6 in the first innings despite being 16-3 at one stage. In reply, Bangladesh piled on 565 runs in their first innings, thus taking a healthy lead of 117 runs.

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Azhar Mahmood slams PCB for providing a flat pitch

After the end of Day 4, Azhar Mahmood accepted that Pakistan did not read the pitch correctly. He claimed that the pitch looked green but it turned out to be slow which went in favour of the batters.

"We didn't expect the pitch to behave like that. It looked a green pitch, but it was very slow," Mahmood said after the end of Day 4.

Azhar Mahmood said "We didn't expect the pitch to behave like that. It looked a green pitch, but it was very slow" 🇵🇰😭😭#PAKvBAN #tapmad #HojaoADFree pic.twitter.com/U6JtIBtAoN

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) August 24, 2024

Aamer Jamal brings balance to our team - Azhar Mahmood

The former Pakistan allrounder also mentioned that Aamer Jamal would have brought balance to the team and he would have been the difference in this game. He further lashed out at the board by saying that Pakistan did not demand such a flat pitch.

"We wanted Aamer Jamal in our team, he provides the balance to us. We will see how this pitch behaves in the second Test now, but this is not the type of pitch that we demanded," Mahmood added.

Azhar Mahmood "We wanted Aamer Jamal in our team, he provides the balance to us. We will see how this pitch behaves in the second Test now, but this is not the type of pitch which we demanded" 🇵🇰💔#PAKvBAN #tapmad #HojaoADFree pic.twitter.com/oALqK7aPpg

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) August 24, 2024

Aamer Jamal record in Test cricket

Aamer Jamal had a great start to his Test career. All of his three Tests came during Pakistan's tour of Australia.

He picked up 18 wickets at an average of 20.44 with 2 five-wicket hauls. Jamal was also impressive with the bat as he scored 143 runs at an average of 28.60.

However, Pakistan suffered a big blow before this series as Aamer Jamal was ruled out due to injury.

His skills with bat and ball would have been crucial for Pakistan in home conditions and could have also allowed them to play an extra spinner.

The next Test of this two-match Test series will also be played on the same ground and it remains to be seen how the pitch behaves in that match.

Pakistan have been criticized for a long time for preparing flat batting pitches which are not mostly result-oriented.