Former Australia captain Ian Chappell believes Cricket Australia shouldn’t invite Pakistan cricket team for Test series Down Under in future until the struggling Asian side up their game significantly and provide some sort of challenge to the home side.
The visitors were whitewashed in the recent three-match Test series against the Baggy Green, and apart from the final day of the opening Test at the Gabba, they rarely threatened the hosts.
Pakistan were outplayed in every aspect of the game, disappointing those who had hoped to see a closely contested series in the light of their impressive form at their adopted home of UAE.
Coupled with their 2-0 defeat at the hands of New Zealand, captain Misbahul Haq’s men lost all five Tests in the past two months, leading Chappell to question the wisdom of inviting a team that looks a shadow of itself on their travels.
“Pakistan have now lost 12 Test matches on the trot in Australia, and somebody’s got to give them a kick up the bum. Cricket Australia have got to start saying ‘listen if things don’t improve we will stop with the invites’,” Chappell, who feels Pakistan’s poor fielding at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was a sign of things to come in the rest of the series, told ESPN.
“You can’t continue to [play poor] cricket. You can’t bowl poorly, have conservative field placings and field sloppily and expect to play decent cricket in Australia,” he added.
The 73-year-old was extremely critical of captain Misbah, saying, “A lot of their struggles were because they had no leadership. There was no inspiration from Misbah, so things have got to change in Pakistan.”
When asked to comment on Misbah’s future as the skipper, Chappel said, “If I had anything to do with the selection then that will be it for Misbah as the captain, but in Pakistan they do some very strange things, so I wouldn’t bet on it.”
Pakistan’s below par showing means that Chappell feels Australia shouldn’t feel too confident about themselves as they have yet to be truly tested — something that will change on their upcoming tour of India.
“Australia have made some improvements, but whether their performances were flattered by the way Pakistan played…we will find that out in India as that will be the big test,” concluded Chappell.