"We have seen this with India as well" - Aakash Chopra on Pakistan's loss in PAK vs WI 2025 2nd Test

Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that Pakistan got caught in their trap while losing the second Test against the West Indies. He pointed out India also met the same fate recently when they prepared rank turners.

Pakistan suffered a 120-run defeat in the second Test against the West Indies in Multan on Monday, January 27. The hosts were bowled out for 154 and 133 in their two innings, with Jomel Warrican (4/43 and 5/27) starring with the ball for the visitors.

Reflecting on Pakistan's loss in a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that the decision of subcontinental teams, including India, to prepare square turners has backfired lately.

"Pakistan were playing against the West Indies. The West Indies were 54/8 in the first innings. It seemed like it was over and it would be a two-day game, but it didn't happen like that. Runs were scored in the end and eventually, the West Indies won the match," he said (1:40).

"When you lay the net to catch a lot of fish, sometimes you get trapped yourself. The hunter becomes the hunted. It has not happened once but many times. Subcontinental teams make this mistake. They make rank turners when they see the opposition team doesn't have that good spinners and batters who play spin well. We have seen this with India as well," Chopra added.

Aakash Chopra pointed out that luck becomes a huge factor on such surfaces. He added that even the home teams' batters don't have the confidence to play on such pitches as they are short of runs.

---

"It happened to India at the Wankhede where we couldn't play Ajaz Patel" - Aakash Chopra

Ajaz Patel picked up 11 wickets in the third Test against India in Mumbai. [P/C: BCCI]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra recalled India succumbing to Ajaz Patel in Mumbai in the Test series against New Zealand last year.

"Since both teams come closer to each other on rank turners because the pitch has suddenly played a huge role, you get beaten badly. It happened to India at the Wankhede where we couldn't play Ajaz Patel. They (New Zealand) batted and went after beating us, and it's not happened for the first time," he said.

While noting that Pakistan have prepared contrasting pitches lately, the former India opener questioned whether they needed to prepare a rank turner against the West Indies.

"Pakistan live in extremes only. They used to prepare absolutely flat pitches earlier, and England scored nearly 800 runs. Then they said they would play all their matches on underprepared pitches. Spin to rule, where there is no need to play fast bowlers. You could have played on a slightly neutral surface against the West Indies," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra noted that teams have started taking extreme positions since the start of the World Test Championship (WTC). He pointed out that the final Test of the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 was played on potentially the greenest-ever Sydney pitch, as was acknowledged by Glenn McGrath and Matthew Hayden.