2nd Test: We planned different pitches for Bangladesh and England, says Azhar Mahmood

Multan: In a bid to reverse their fortunes following a crushing innings defeat in the first Test against England, Pakistan have opted for a spin-heavy approach, drastically changing their bowling strategy for the second Test. The decision to field three specialist spinners and only one pace-bowling option has raised eyebrows, but according to assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, this was always part of the plan.

"We had a clear plan of what pitches to prepare for Bangladesh and what to prepare against England," Mahmood said in a press conference on Monday. "Our approach was pace wickets against Bangladesh and spin pitches against England. Our instruction to the curator for the first Test was that the ball should spin after the second day. But the pitch didn't take turn until even the fifth day. Hopefully, the ball will begin to take turn on the ninth day."

Despite their original intentions, Pakistan’s lineup in the first Test did not reflect a spin-heavy strategy, featuring only one specialist spinner, Abrar Ahmed, alongside three fast bowlers—Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, and all-rounder Aamer Jamal.

The result was a disastrous performance as England racked up a record 823/7, the highest score ever conceded by Pakistan in a Test. This defeat has forced Pakistan to rethink their strategy.

"You have to take 20 wickets," Mahmood said. "We thought about how we're going to take those. We thought that if we used that pitch, the thinking was how do we take 20 wickets against England and we thought spin was the way to do it.

"The players who are coming in are experienced. They are all experienced and have been playing first-class cricket for a while. The best option is to play players at home on pitches they are used to, so I don't think there'll be that much pressure on that."

For the second Test, Pakistan have brought in seasoned spinners Zahid Mahmood, Noman Ali, and Sajid Khan, but all three face the challenge of having not played first-class cricket since January, as the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy season has yet to begin. Against an England side that broke several records on this very pitch just a week ago, the pressure will be immense.

The absence of star batsman Babar Azam from the squad has also stirred controversy, but Mahmood was quick to clarify that Babar has been rested rather than dropped.

"Babar is our No.1 player. There is no question about that. His technique and ability. If you look at Pakistan's FTP, there's a lot of cricket coming up. So, because of that, the selection committee decided that this was the best time to give Babar a rest. After that, we have to go to Australia and Zimbabwe and there is a South Africa tour as well. So that's important."

"If you look at the fast bowling, this was the third test under new management. Before that, we were also struggling as we wanted to know how to get 20 wickets. So now we think we have more options with spin. There were also a few niggles. Naseem had a few niggles and Shaheen was playing a lot of cricket. So we decided to rest him," said Mahmood.

Mahmood’s reasoning has been met with skepticism, especially given the significance of the ongoing home Test series against England, arguably Pakistan’s most important assignment of the season. Critics have questioned why the upcoming white-ball series couldn’t be used for rotation instead.

With three spinners, including all-rounder Salman Agha, Pakistan’s hopes rest heavily on the pitch taking turn as expected. "We left a lot of grass on the pitches and wanted the ball to turn to use the pitch in our favour. Let’s see if it works for us," Mahmood concluded.

As the second Test approaches, Pakistan finds themselves under enormous pressure to deliver a result and salvage the series. Their decision to go all-in on spin could either spark a dramatic turnaround or compound their troubles against a dominant England side.