Inzamam-ul-Haq wants seaming pitches in Pakistan to prepare for the England tour

As Pakistan is scheduled to tour England in the month of July, the newly-appointed chief selector of the Pakistan cricket team Inzamam-ul-Haq doesn't want to leave any stone unturned for the preparation of the upcoming tour. The former Pakistan skipper has asked for seaming pitches in Pakistan as the men in green are scheduled to play 4 Tests, 5 ODIs and 1 T20I against England and also 2 ODIs against Ireland in the upcoming English summer.

England is a very tough side to beat at home and knowing that, the veteran has reportedly advised the Pakistan Cricket Board’s chief curator to give fresh seaming pitches to the players who will attend the camp in Lahore on 29th May. In England, the ball tends to seam and swing a lot and the subcontinent batsmen find it tough to deal with that.

The pitches there are also conducive to such bowling and to counter that, Inzamam has reportedly demanded similar tracks in Pakistan as well. He has also urged the PCB to send the team two weeks earlier to England to set up an acclimatization camp in Hampshire County before the tour officially commences in late June.

According to reports, a source close to PCB told PTI, "Inzi(Inzamam) has gone through the records of the England team in Tests particularly in English conditions and is aware they thrashed India 3-1 in the summer of 2014 despite India boosting of a world class batting line-up.”

Keeping fingers crossed for Mohammad Aamir

Reportedly, the chief selector has also closely analyzed England’s recent record on away tours in Tests and tried to find out the reasons behind their rousing success in Tests in South Africa where they trumped the strong Proteas side.

Pakistan has a strong bowling line-up at their disposal and the addition of the tainted pacer Mohammad Aamir has surely added to their strengths. However, there is a concern about his visa for the tour and the chief selector is reportedly keeping his fingers crossed.

Pakistan’s formidable bowling line-up can exploit the frailties in the England batting line-up and someone like Mohammad Aamir will be more than handful given his earlier performances in England in 2010.

The ever-so-inconsistent Pakistan side will definitely want Aamir to repeat his heroics as they embark on a riveting English sojourn. But they will have to work very hard on their batting which currently looks utterly vulnerable.

Pakistan will play an overseas Test Series after 3 years

The source said, “Inzi(Inzamam) realises that Pakistan's biggest problem is that since 2012/13 winter when they toured South Africa, the Pakistani Test squad was confined to playing in the UAE where pitches did not test the batsmen.”

He also added, “The chief selector knows that since Pakistan will be playing a Test series outside Asia and Middle East for the first time since the winter of 2012/13 how the Pakistani adapt to the English conditions will decide the series.”

Though Pakistan is currently ranked 3rd in the ICC Test Rankings, they have often been criticized for not playing Tests outside the subcontinent in the last 2 years or so. They will surely be challenged by a strong England team who will be high on confidence after their recent string of good performances.