Wasim Akram critical of Premadasa pitch for Pak-SL T20 semi-final

Former Pakistan captain has criticised the curator at Premadasa stadium in Colombo for preparing an unsupportive wicket for the crucial World T20 semi-final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The wicket was not easy to bat, as the ball was staying low all the time. It behaved slightly better in the first innings, when the home side scored 139 runs.

Later in the day, the wicket started behaving unexpectedly and as a result, the Men in Green failed to achieve the target. The Green Shirts faced an embarrassing 16-run loss, failing to make it to the big final.

Akram, who is covering the mega event as commentator, lashed out at the authorities, and said that it was an ‘impossible pitch to bat on’.

"I should say that this pitch certainly was not in the spirit of the game. It was an impossible pitch to bat on and I am surprised they had such a surface for such a big match," Akram told Geo News channel.

"On this pitch 140 was like chasing 180. I don’t know how you can have such a pitch for such a big match, it was disappointing," he added.

Luck was surely on Sri Lanka’s side, as in-form Nasir Jamshed was incorrectly declared LBW by the umpire. Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath became very hard to play, as the ball was staying low.

"When Pakistan batted 60 overs had been bowled on it. This is not acceptable for such a big match. The moment umpire gave Nasir out leg before I knew the ball had pitched outside the leg side. Such errors are unpardonable in such a big match," said Akram,
who has over-500 ODI wickets to his credit.

Another former Test cricket Abdul Qadir expressed concerns over the wicket. The legendary leg-spinner shared that the shortest version of the game is all about entertainment and thus, ICC should ensure good wickets.

"People want to see runs scored and big hits in T20. Such low scoring games is okay for Test match but not in T20 cricket," Qadir said.

Former Test batsman and coach Mohsin Khan added, "It meant basically the toss played too much of a vital role.”

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Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Oct 5 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry