FAISALABAD: After the Iqbal Stadium here soaked the bright sunshine Thursday, chief curator Agha Zahid said "60 percent" of the work was complete to prepare the pitch for the second India-Pakistan Test starting Saturday.
"About 60 percent of the work has been done today after the sun shone brightly," Zahid, visibly looking more relieved than on Wednesday, told IANS.
Zahid, a former Pakistan Test player, was happier because the clear weather had proved wrong the forecast by CNN.com, whose printout he has been carrying.
He did not miss an opportunity to show the printout to anyone who inquired about the pitch, putting up a brave face after the disastrous flat track at Lahore, where the two sides played their first Test.
Zahid, the national curator of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has been intensely criticised after the Gaddafi Stadium pitch in Lahore produced a dull draw Tuesday.
Though a lot of time also went waste in that Test due to rains and poor visibility, much of the criticism was targeted at the curator and PCB for producing a sleeping beauty. Experts here were flummoxed by the fact that the pitch did not suit Pakistan, which had a better pace attack than India.
The pitch in Faisalabad too is devoid of grass, but Zahid is making an effort to make it a sporting one that will assist all three segments of a team - pacers, batsmen and spinners towards the end of the match.
And it was because of this belief that he said both captains would like to win the toss.
"The captain winning the toss would like to bat first here," he said.
Zahid is also praying that Faisalabad proves people wrong and a result is produced in the five-day match.
A total of 23 Tests have been played at the Iqbal Stadium and 12 were drawn. Pakistan have won six and lost five. India has not won a Test in four matches since playing its first match here in 1978. | 
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