Practice on matting pitches was imperative for Pak: Hanif

Former captain Hanif Muhammad says had Pakistani batsmen practiced on matting pitches before going to South Africa, as suggested by him, they would not have struggled on fast pitches there.
Pakistan were whitewashed 0-3 in the recently concluded three-Test series in South Africa.
"I had advised they practice on matting pitches but I don't know what happened but this didn't happen. Maybe because of the tight schedule of the players and shortage of time but it would have helped them definitely," Hanif said.
The legendary opener said playing on matting pitches would have helped batsmen to cope with unusual bounce and lateral movement.

"Playing 10 to 15 days on matting would have helped them a lot," said Hanif who spent his formative years playing on matting pitches.
He pointed out that Pakistani batsmen had failed in South Africa because they played against a very strong opposition with a very strong bowling attack after a long time and on pitches that had pace, bounce and sideways movement.
"It was not an easy series at all for our players and what is done is done. They must now start only think and focus on the coming T20 and ODI series. I believe we have a better team for these formats," Hanif said.