Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed is of the view that the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is the most interesting league in the world because it has many dimensions to it. The pitches in Pakistan are of different nature and the quality of bowling that is on show in the PSL is also very high.
According to Aaqib Javed, who was speaking on PTV sports, IPL doesn’t match the quality of PSL because the pitches all over India are flat, and the bowling is of low quality, which is the reason why most of the matches in the IPL are high scoring and the cricket is only one dimensional. As far as PSL matches are concerned, the matches in Lahore are generally dominated by the bowlers because the surface there has something in it for the bowlers, while the surface in Karachi is good for batting.
Aaqib Javed, although he didn’t have a very long international career, was someone who was believed to be a very good prospect of reverse swing, and it is said that he was the one who brought the reverse swing into prominence in Pakistan. Aaqib is the head coach of Lahore Qalandars in the PSL these days and the Qalandars have never won the tournament under his coaching, despite having the services of some of the best Pakistan players in the form of Mohammad Hafeez, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.
Comments of Aaqib Javed about IPL seem inaccurate
Comments of Aaqib Javed about the pitches in India seem inaccurate because the Indian pitches are probably the most versatile as compared to the pitches in any other country in the world.
While Chennai is a surface that assists the spinners, Mumbai and Eden Gardens have good bounce, Mohali and Jaipur offer a bit of seam movement at times, while Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore is a good deck for batting with short boundaries. The IPL teams have to counter different conditions in almost every game they play away from their home base because of the versatile pitches.
Aaqib’s comments about the quality of bowling are off the mark as well because IPL teams generally recruit all the top quality bowlers going around in the international circuit. Whether it’s Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje or Lockie Ferguson, they all ply their trade in the IPL. To call the quality of bowling low in a league, where such top international fast bowlers are playing, is just factually incorrect.