Wahab Riaz blames poor execution of plans for the opening day failure

Wahab Riaz has admitted that Pakistan had a very demoralising day with the ball after receiving a bashing at the hand of David Warner and Matt Renshaw. Australia ended the opening day of 3rd Test at Sydney Cricket Ground with 365/3 on the board with Warner setting the tone for the day with a record-breaking century in the morning session and the 20-year-old Matt Renshaw also feasting on, finishing unbeaten at 167. Warner sent the records tumbling by becoming the just the fifth batsman in Test history to reach 100 before lunch on the first morning of the Test.

“As a bowling unit, if we keep making mistakes and bowling in (Warner’s) strong area, we’re going to look foolish. We didn’t bowl well and Australia batted at an extremely good run rate.”

“The conditions today in Sydney were quite close to those we get in Asia. The pitch was little slow. We know how to bowl in these conditions and we should have bowled better here. We admit that we haven’t been successful here.

“We have not been able to execute our plans and if you are not doing it properly then there is little chance you will take wickets. The credit goes to Warner and co for playing so well. But at the end of the day, it’s the bowling unit which isn’t doing good. As a bowling unit we have let our team really down.”

Pakistan made one change to their bowling line-up for the match, recalling right-arm seamer Imran Khan in place of Sohail Khan. The change did not help as Imran Khan ended being the most damaged bowler in the first session. Mohammad Amir also was a cropper while Yasir Shah also was expensive. Wahab Riaz was the only successful bowler returning with two wickets that of Warner and Usman Khawaja.

While most of the upcoming bowlers like Imran Khan and others show a lot of promise in Pakistan domestic circuit, they fail badly when put to test in alien conditions. Riaz assessed this problem and also gave some suitable examples describing the situation through which all the fast bowlers go when introduced to conditions where they have zero or little experience of bowling.

“There is lot difference between the pitches that we get to see in the domestic cricket in Pakistan and those on which we bowl at international level,” said Wahab. The balls used in the domestic cricket are also different.

“You need a little more power and pace to manoeuvre the Kookaburra balls whereas the Gray balls that we use in domestic cricket (are) hard and have a pronounced seam.

“There is also lot of moisture in the pitches that we use in the domestic cricket in Pakistan, which is helpful for fast bowlers. That is the reason most of our fast bowlers struggle in the second innings as compared to the first innings.

“We have played our most of the cricket in the UAE where it is tough to perform as a fast bowler.

“Even if you look at some other bowlers, the likes of Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, they have also struggled in Asia.

“If we get to bowl on better wickets on which there is a good carry then it will be better for us. You can make batting friendly and flat wickets, but the pitches should have a good carry so that fast bowlers also get some help.”