Karachi (AP): Pakistani fans are not exactly rushing to get a taste of Test match cricket after a year of going without it.
Pakistan captain Younis Khan thinks the preparation of the pitch at the National Stadium is to blame, saying the batting-friendly wickets are hardly conducive to edge-of-the-seat excitement.
Sri Lanka declared its first innings at an imposing 644-7 in the first Test and Pakistan finished day three at 296-3, meandering along at less than three runs an over. The 10 wickets to fall in three days came at 94 runs apiece and at just over one per session.
Khan led from the front on Monday and was unbeaten on 149 off 282 balls, hitting 17 boundaries in six hours 11 minutes. Only a scattering of spectators attended the National Stadium on the first three days, despite it being Pakistan's first Test match in 14 months because teams such as Australia canceled tours due to security concerns.
``If such type of wickets are made, people won't come to the stadiums and the Test cricket will get bored,'' Younis told reporters. ``I don't know who has made this wicket but the main thing is that Test cricket should be played on a good wicket, on which there should be something for both bowlers and batsmen.
``We need wickets, on which there should be a result.'' ``I am not that type of a man who gives excuses if we lose or win, but I didn't want to have such type of wicket,'' he said.
``Sri Lanka has two top spinners but they are not troubling us because the wicket is too flat for the bowler,'' Khan said. ``I think there's some courses on how to make pitches and there's no shame in doing such courses,'' he said.
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