MULTAN: Skipper Shan Masood defended Pakistan’s formula of using spin-friendly pitches to win home Test matches after a 127-run victory over the West Indies in Multan on Sunday.
Pakistan completed the win before tea on the third day as spinners Sajid Khan grabbed 5-50 and Abrar Ahmed finished with 4-27 to dismiss the West Indies for 123 after setting a 251-run target.
The Test lasted fewer than eight sessions on a dry and grassless Multan Stadium pitch, with spinners taking 34 of the 40 wickets to fall.
Sajid finished with nine wickets, fellow spinner Noman Ali six and the West Indian left-armer Jomel Warrican took a maiden 10-wicket haul.
Pakistan bowled just one over of pace in the match.
“If we want to be a top side in the World Test Championship then we have to sacrifice some things, like we did with the fast bowling in this Test,” Masood said.
Pakistan made drastic changes after going winless in 11 home Tests since 2021, using industrial fans and patio heaters to dry the Multan pitch against England last year.
Sajid and Noman took 39 of the 40 wickets to give Pakistan a come-from-behind 2-1 series win against England, repeating the same ploy against the West Indies.
Masood’s captain counterpart Kraigg Brathwaite had no issue with it.
They will play the second Test from January 25 at the same venue.
“They’re at home so they got their decision how they want the pitch to behave,” said Brathwaite.
“It was a difficult pitch to bat on for sure.
“We expect the same type of pitch in the second Test so we got to come better with bravery and belief.”
Left-hander Alick Athanaze hit the only half-century for the tourists in the match with 55, an innings Brathwaite wants his batters to learn from.
“He swept it on both sides so we just have to be brave,” said Brathwaite.
“We have got one more Test and we have to believe in ourselves.”
Masood defends Pakistan’s spin-spiced formula after West Indies win
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Masood defends Pakistan’s spin-spiced formula after West Indies win
- Pakistan completed the win before tea on the third day as spinners Sajid Khan grabbed 5-50 and Abrar Ahmed finished with 4-27
- The Test lasted fewer than eight sessions on a dry, grassless Multan Stadium pitch, with spinners taking 34 of 40 wickets to fall
Imran Khan’s party warns government against shifting him to hospital without informing family, physicians
- Pakistan’s government said on Saturday it would shift Khan to a hospital, form medical board for eye treatment amid outcry over health concerns
- Commencing any medical examination or treatment of Khan in absence of family, physicians will be in violation of constitution, jail rules, says party
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party this week warned the government against shifting him to a hospital for treatment without informing his family and physicians, saying such a move would be in violation of the constitution and jail rules.
The PTI’s response came after the government announced on Saturday that it has decided to transfer the jailed former prime minister from the Central Prison in Rawalpindi to a hospital and form a medical board for his eye treatment.
The developments follow a report submitted to the Supreme Court by a lawyer appointed as a “friend of the court” who was asked to visit Khan at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail earlier this month. The report said the 73-year-old had suffered severe vision loss in his right eye due to central retinal vein occlusion, leaving him with only 15 percent sight in the affected eye.
The report’s findings triggered a sit-in by an opposition alliance, including members of Khan’s PTI, outside Parliament House in Islamabad, who demanded his immediate transfer to Islamabad’s Al-Shifa Hospital. Khan was also allowed to speak to his sons for about 20 minutes, according to his family, despite the former premier’s limited interactions with his family and legal team in recent months due to restrictions that the PTI has challenged in court.
“The party’s stance in this regard is clear: transferring Imran Khan to any location without informing his family and physicians or commencing any medical examination or treatment in their absence, is a grave violation of the Constitution of Pakistan and jail rules,” the PTI said in a statement issued late Saturday.
“This will not be acceptable under any circumstances.”
The party said it rejects “any form of secrecy” around Khan’s health, adding that hiding facts about it would be tantamount to putting the former premier’s health at risk.
The PTI said Khan’s medical examinations and treatments should be ensured immediately in the presence of his personal physicians and at least one member of his family.
“Furthermore, it is essential that this process be conducted independently under the supervision of reputable doctors and hospitals recommended by the party,” it said.
“The government will be held entirely responsible for the consequences of any secretive or unilateral action.”
‘GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSIBILITY’
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Saturday that the government gives priority to humanitarian considerations and legal requirements.
“Providing facilities to every prisoner in accordance with the law is the government’s responsibility,” Chaudhry wrote on social media.
Meanwhile, Khan’s lawyers on Saturday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking suspension of a Dec. 20, 2025 conviction in a graft case involving state gifts, arguing that continued incarceration during the pendency of the appeal would result in a grave miscarriage of justice.
The petition says the judgment is under substantive legal challenge and requests suspension of the sentence until the appeal is decided, a remedy available under Pakistani law when serious questions are raised about a conviction.
Khan, who was ousted from office via a parliamentary vote in April 2022, has been in jail since August 2023 after his conviction on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated.
The opposition alliance has vowed to continue its sit-in outside Parliament House until Khan is shifted to the hospital.
