Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt takes a jibe at PCB President Ramiz Raja

Ever since Ramiz Raja took over the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairmanship, a lot has been spoken about pitches in the country. Raja has openly advocated introducing drop-in tracks in Pakistan to improve the quality of cricket.

However, the recently concluded Test series against Australia saw barren and placid pitches on full display across Rawalpindi, Karachi, and Lahore. 

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt has taken a jibe at the PCB chairman, saying that pitches are secondary when it comes to leading the national side while talking about Babar Azam's leadership qualities.

Speaking on his channel, Butt said, "If you want to judge a captain tactically, Test cricket is the best format to analyse that. But captaincy doesn't matter when you prepare pitches like these. You can just look at those pitches and say that spinners will play. The result is difficult in five days. The chairman will then say, What else are we supposed to do? Hand them the game?"

Ramiz defended the Pindi pitch, which produced 1,187 runs that saw the Test end in a tame draw. The 1992 World Cup winner said Pakistan needed sporting tracks to pose challenges in England and Australia.

Speaking more about this, the former KKR player added, "How can you test your skill in such a way? You can win Tests in England and give the sides a tough time in away Tests. You can't just put all the burden on the captain,"

"You need experienced bowlers. We have talented bowlers, but they lack experience. It's not easy to win Tests abroad. Haris Rauf, for example, is young and energetic with a good attitude, but the experience will only come with time. The same goes for Shaheen. Among spinners as well, no one at the moment has the ability to run through a batting order,”

Butt went on to conclude by lauding Azam for his batting despite carrying the burden of being the captain.

"Nevertheless, Babar is growing with time. His batting remains unaffected with the captaincy, which is a good thing," the current Singapore head coach added.

Azam-led Pakistan will clash against Nicolas Pooran-captained West Indies at Multan today in the first of three ODIs.