‘Test bolke T20I dikha rahe ho be’ - Memes galore as fans are left disappointed with Rawalpindi’s flat pitch and Pakistan bowling attack

The much talked about historic first Test between Pakistan and England has got underway at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and it was the visitors who opted to bat first after winning the toss. Ben Stokes made just one change to the playing XI he had already announced earlier with Will Jacks coming in place of Ben Foakes who has fallen ill.  

Rawalpindi faced a lot of criticism earlier this year when Australia toured for a three match Test series in the month of March-April and there wasn’t much assistance in the pitch for the bowlers. The batters kept cruising and the game wasn’t moving anywhere near a result. It has been the same story in the ongoing series so far with England taking the centre stage and have enjoyed the batting conditions.  

Pakistan missed the services of Shaheen Shah Afridi for the series with him yet to recover from the knee injury in the T20 World Cup 2022 campaign and the likes of Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf have been ineffective in the first two sessions. In fact, a lot of boundaries were hit in the first session which showed Pakistan’s depleted bowling attack was clueless and to make things worse, the pitch also has nothing for the bowlers. 

Zak Crawley who has struggled a lot in his Test career in testing conditions used the opportunity to revive his form and got to a fantastic century in the second session. Ben Duckett meanwhile, played a sizzling innings from the other end to get to the three-figure mark as England went past the 200-run mark around the 30th over. The first session run rate was quite baffling and the fans on social media were clearly disappointed with the pitch as they compared to ‘highway roads.’ 

Having said that, Pakistan made a decent comeback in the second session picking up three wickets. England, however, are way ahead in the game having already amassed 332 runs.

Here are the memes during the ongoing Test between Pakistan and England:

This pitch looks fire🔥 pic.twitter.com/pwSYJz5BUu

— The Shaheens Brigade (@ShaheensBrigade) December 1, 2022

When you see the Rawalpindi pitch:#PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/icCDVnf802

— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) December 1, 2022

What a start to ODI series between England and Pakistan in Rawalpindi.

152-0 and counting at home for Pakistan. 🤣🤣#PAKvsEng #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/WMg9anrjhE

— Akshat (@AkshatOM10) December 1, 2022

Test cricket in Rawalpindi is beautiful. pic.twitter.com/hKRjB762ja

— Manya (@CSKian716) December 1, 2022

After watching England’s batting,

Fans be like : Test bolke T20I dikha rahe ho be.#PakvsEng2022 #PAKvsEng pic.twitter.com/0wRvIvZR1E

— Avinash Aryan (@AvinashArya09) December 1, 2022

Crawley and Duckett today 🤭 #PAKvsEng pic.twitter.com/Bhtg82UYH5

— Tanay (@tanutd_) December 1, 2022

Surprised to see that the PCB, whose team defeated a billion-dollar economy team twice in one year, still can’t prepare a Test match pitch. Three versus Australia, now this. #PAKvENG

— Jamie Alter 😷 🇮🇳 (@alter_jamie) December 1, 2022

Great initiative by our govt, another Motorway in Rawalpindi,
No Drs #Rawalpindi #PAKvENG zak Crawley#cricket pic.twitter.com/5l2NghmTxU

— نا چیز (@ShahSahb00) December 1, 2022