MELBOURNE – Pakistan Test Team Captain Shan Masood has opened up about the reason as to why he decided to bowl first in the second Test match against Australia.
“We won the toss and opted to bowl first because of the favorable performances of bowling sides in the MCG Tests over the past three years,” said Shan while explaining the reason.
He said that “Just having looked at the MCG Tests for the past three years, the bowling side has done well. There’s been a bit of weather around, so we’d like to avail every opportunity with the ball,”.
He stated that given the weather and past T20 World Cup experience, they were expecting lateral movement. Hoping it won’t deteriorate like Perth. Bowlers should find support, yet batters can capitalize on shot value.”
Addressing the decision to exclude specialist spinner Sajid Khan and go with four pacers, Masood stated that they made a decision by looking at the ground and the T20 World Cup last year.
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He said that it was seam-heavy, and he thought Agha did a decent job in Perth to keep one end quite economical, so they would try and do the same again.
Australia’s captain Pat Cummins admitted that they, too, contemplated bowling first.
“The pitch is hard this year as compared to previous years,” said Cummins, pointing out that some grass cover and cloud presence.
“We had thought to field first because the pitch is harder this year as compared to the previous years,” he explained.
However, he said they have no problem if they bat first.
