KARACHI: Former captains Aamir Sohail and Javed Miandad emphasise that current Pakistan batters need to bring radical changes in their skill set if they are to achieve good results against world’s top-shelf opponents.

While emphasising that the spin-trap formula introduced by Pakistan in home Tests will take time to fully benefit the country, Aamir says that improving batters’ defence technique is mandatory.

“The spin-friendly tracks introduced by Pakistan recently is a new formula for victory in home Tests which has its pros and cons. Sometimes it will work while on other occasions [against better opponents] it may not prove beneficial. Keep in mind that Shan Masood and his team were playing against South Africa, the world’s top Test team,” Aamir told Dawn.

“This [spinning wickets] formula will take time before it starts benefiting Pakistan consistently.”

Pakistan played a 1-1 draw in the two-Test home series against South Africa last week.

After winning the first Test by 93 runs on a square turner at the Gaddafi Stadium, the hosts lost the second Test by eight wickets at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, which again had prodigious spin, where they suffered a second-innings collapse.

Since last year, Pakistan have had a mixed bag of results at home, as they faced an embarrassing 2-0 series sweep against Bangladesh before winning a three-Test rubber against England 2-1 – as the hosts came back strongly on spinning tracks after an innings drubbing in the series opener — and then managed a 1-1 draw against West Indies. In all these Tests which Pakistan lost, their batting was found wanting.

Former opener Aamir said that fragile batting was not a new problem in Pakistan cricket.

“Batting collapse in the second innings has been a perennial problem faced by Pakistan. Therefore, it needs to be looked into properly,” the 1992 World Cup-winning player underlined.

Having scored 333 — after losing their last five wickets for 18 runs — in the first innings of the Rawalpindi Test, Pakistan first let South Africa post 404, and then were shot out for a paltry 138 as off-spinner Simon Harmer recorded a career-best 6-50.

“Our batters need to develop their defence technique which is vital in Test cricket,” Aamir responded when asked to comment on Pakistan batters’ brittleness against spinners. “Without a solid technique, no batter can survive in cut-throat international competitions.”

On who was to be blamed for this significantly obvious flaw among the current crop of batters, Aamir in a flash responded, “All stakeholders [player, coach, board] are responsible.”

He continued, “Unfortunately, [role of] club cricket in our country has dwindled over the years. A club is the place where players improve their technique and overcome weaknesses before getting ready for international stage.

“Secondly, the selection criterion in our system is flawed. A player who can hit big sixes [generally] gets preference over others. Whereas, the focus in selection process should on technically sound batters who can face top-class bowling.”

The legendary Miandad believes that current Pakistan batters require an adaptable approach in the game if they are to dominate different bowlers.

“Our batters need to alter their technique keeping in view the bowler they are facing. Different bowlers have various approaches, and batters if they want to dominate the proceedings, must adopt specific methods for handling different bowlers,” Miandad told Dawn.

“Secondly, several of our [current] batters lack game awareness which is crucial in international contests. A batter must look to control the bowler by countering him smartly on every ball.”

On why the Pakistan batters failed against South African spinners Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy and Harmer in the just-ended series, Miandad said technique mattered the most.

“While playing against spinners, a batter must bend his body to watch closely and smother the incoming ball whereas many of our batters just keep a vertical body posture which results in their failure against spin,” Miandad, a veteran of 124 Tests and 233 ODIs from 1975 to 1996, explained.

Miandad, famously known as the Man of Crisis for his phenomenal batting in high-pressure international games, emphasised the role of coaches for players’ improvement.

“A coach must understand and guide his players as to where they are lacking,” he insisted. “Each of the eleven playing members of a team are to be managed in a specific way, and a coach’s role is vital in this regard.”

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2025