Pakistan's tour of England - August/September - 3 Tests/3 T20Is

[NILAYSHAH60]

That was pathetic Captaincy from Azhar Ali. It really was! England would allowed to win so easily after having more than 150 runs to win losing half their side. That's Pakistan Cricket for you.

After having batsman to grind it out and bowlers having abilities to take wickets on top of England being so unpredictable off late and they are still losing it.

But I believe this isn't over. Pakistan will hit back for sure.

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

This is about as gut-wrenching as it gets for a Pakistani fan, unfortunately, the feeling's all too familiar

 

[AsadRM]

So close yet so far!

Outstanding Test Cricket for 4 straight days. Pakistan should have been better but still good fight guys! Keep your heads high as we gave everything we could have.

A few things that went wrong for Pakistan in my opinion:

• Abid and Azhar failing in both innings bringing extra pressure to Babar, Shan and the rest of players.
• Shadab not being good enough with the ball in the second innings.
• Azhar was generally pretty good with his captaincy but he let Woakes settle in and didn't go for the kill. Bowlers also share the blame for this though. Also, Pakistan literally had done zero research on Woakes.
• Poor would be an understatement for Pakistan's batting in the 2nd innings.

Yasir was excellent in all three facets of the game ( bowling, batting and fielding). Shan was excellent as well. Babar and Shan were due a failure in one innings as they have been brilliant over the last season, so not a big problem there.

Azhar is averaging a shocking 11 outside Asia in the last two years. He needs to seriously think about his future.

Sometimes, the opposition is better than you. Credit to England for defeating a good Pakistan team. The biggest positive for England should be Ollie Pope though. He seems like a real great in making.

 

[AsadRM]

This is about as gut-wrenching as it gets for a Pakistani fan, unfortunately, the feeling's all too familiar

View attachment 236157

This reminds me of 2019 WC game against West Indies and later the game against England.

Same mercurial Pakistan and typical ecstasy and disappointment for the fans, in a span of 2 days of Cricket.

 

[AsadRM]

That was pathetic Captaincy from Azhar Ali. It really was! England would allowed to win so easily after having more than 150 runs to win losing half their side.

I would disagree with this. Yes it was a little poor from Azhar's end, but pathetic is too strong of a word to be used. Bowlers and luck let Azhar down.

Anybody would back 3 pacers and a top class spinner to get rid of a bowling all-rounder who averages 11 that summer.

Woakes played exceptionally and bowlers let Azhar down slightly. Pakistan were a little unlucky as well.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

So close yet so far!

Outstanding Test Cricket for 4 straight days. Pakistan should have been better but still good fight guys! Keep your heads high as we gave everything we could have.

A few things that went wrong for Pakistan in my opinion:

• Abid and Azhar failing in both innings bringing extra pressure to Babar, Shan and the rest of players.
• Shadab not being good enough with the ball in the second innings.
• Azhar was generally pretty good with his captaincy but he let Woakes settle in and didn't go for the kill. Bowlers also share the blame for this though. Also, Pakistan literally had done zero research on Woakes.
• Poor would be an understatement for Pakistan's batting in the 2nd innings.

Yasir was excellent in all three facets of the game ( bowling, batting and fielding). Shan was excellent as well. Babar and Shan were due a failure in one innings as they have been brilliant over the last season, so not a big problem there.

Azhar is averaging a shocking 11 outside Asia in the last two years. He needs to seriously think about his future.

Sometimes, the opposition is better than you. Credit to England for defeating a good Pakistan team. The biggest positive for England should be Ollie Pope though. He seems like a real great in making.

There was a lot of talk about England being a batsman short. Woakes' innings at least allayed those fears (actually, in a five innings at 7; he averages 80, has today's match winning innings and a 137* v India). But I think Pakistan's decision to go with Shadab, although he batted well in the first innings, leaves a very long tail. Also, if he's not going to bowl that much is he really worthy of being in the top 7?

They didn't bowl short until Woakes was on 40 was big mistake. Perhaps Pakistan got a bit carried away with what had been working to take those quick wickets. It's tough on the bowlers to say they let them down, they look and are inexperienced (only Yasir has over 20 matches, Archer is England's least experienced bowler and has played more tests than 3 of the Pakistan bowlers). This will be a tough lesson but hopefully one they will learn from. Ultimately, the second innings batting was just not good enough and let England back in. They were at least 50 runs short. Despite their flaws and inconsistencies this England side is very resilient - probably why they come back after losing first matches so well.

 

[CerealKiller]

I would disagree with this. Yes it was a little poor from Azhar's end, but pathetic is too strong of a word to be used. Bowlers and luck let Azhar down.

Anybody would back 3 pacers and a top class spinner to get rid of a bowling all-rounder who averages 11 that summer.

Woakes played exceptionally and bowlers let Azhar down slightly. Pakistan were a little unlucky as well.

Honestly, don't see the logic of having any deep fielders against Buttler and Woakes. Maybe deep fine leg for the bouncer by Naseem or Shaheen, but that's it. Really bad captaincy by Azhar, which allowed those two to settle. There wasn't any maiden bowled during that partnership, because easy singles were on offer.

 

[Bevab]

Buttler did exceptionally well considering his personal circumstances.

 

[Dutch]

Yeah his post match interview was very personal and it is a very honest summary.

 

[AsadRM]

Honestly, don't see the logic of having any deep fielders against Buttler and Woakes. Maybe deep fine leg for the bouncer by Naseem or Shaheen, but that's it. Really bad captaincy by Azhar, which allowed those two to settle. There wasn't any maiden bowled during that partnership, because easy singles were on offer.

My observation is that firstly, he isn't a captaincy material. Captaincy isn't about having played the most number of Tests in your squad.

Pakistan lost 3-0 to Bangladesh in 2015 under his captaincy. Eventually, Pakistan slipped down to #9 in ODI rankings.

Secondly, whatever ok-ish captaincy skills he has, they are being affected by his poor batting form. He averages 11 outside Asia in last 2 years.

But now what's the solution? We don't have any Bradman waiting in domestics to play at #3 nor do we have any MS Dhoni waiting for Azhar to retire and captain the team. But again, we haven't tried anybody, so we can't say anything conclusive.

If Pakistan doesn't win a single Test match in this series nor does Azhar score at least 1 hundred, I can't see how he'll stay as the Test captain.

Shan Masood will be the next captain if he bats well during this series.

 

[AsadRM]

There was a lot of talk about England being a batsman short. Woakes' innings at least allayed those fears (actually, in a five innings at 7; he averages 80, has today's match winning innings and a 137* v India). But I think Pakistan's decision to go with Shadab, although he batted well in the first innings, leaves a very long tail. Also, if he's not going to bowl that much is he really worthy of being in the top 7?

They didn't bowl short until Woakes was on 40 was big mistake. Perhaps Pakistan got a bit carried away with what had been working to take those quick wickets. It's tough on the bowlers to say they let them down, they look and are inexperienced (only Yasir has over 20 matches, Archer is England's least experienced bowler and has played more tests than 3 of the Pakistan bowlers). This will be a tough lesson but hopefully one they will learn from. Ultimately, the second innings batting was just not good enough and let England back in. They were at least 50 runs short. Despite their flaws and inconsistencies this England side is very resilient - probably why they come back after losing first matches so well.

Yeah, Shadab hasn't been good enough. If Pakistan want to go with 2 spinners in the next game, I would like to see Fawad Alam get a go as he is a decent part-timer.

Bowlers (after Woakes's arrival) and Azhar's captaincy let the team down. I get your point that they are inexperienced and the pacers have played nearly 33 Tests combined. But, at the end of the day, your aim is to win the matches as well. You can't just keep playing players for the future only. You need results in present as well.

Pakistan's batting was at least 33 runs short. 310+ would have been an excellent target. But, credit to England. They were resilient and made sure they get something good for their country.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

But my point is why wasn't Shadab used earlier when Pakistan had more than 180-190 to defend ? He would've bowled lot better then. It was the lack of runs to defend made him bowl some defensive lines and lengths. They could've bowled Shadab and Yasir together to keep the pressure on England. Now if you give probably your best bowler in the side less than 100 runs to defend having 2 set batsman on crease how will he be much effective ?

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

I honestly don't see why would one have obsession to have a 34 year old in the side who hasn't played for close to 6 years for the International team. Why not instead have Rohail Nazir who was Pakistan's best player in U-19 World Cup this year. I mean he had all the ingredients to be a good player for this format why not try him out ?

And why don't Usman Salahuddin get chances even after being a prolific run scorer having 23 hundreds in First class Cricket?

 

[CerealKiller]

I honestly don't see why would one have obsession to have a 34 year old in the side who hasn't played for close to 6 years for the International team. Why not instead have Rohail Nazir who was Pakistan's best player in U-19 World Cup this year. I mean he had all the ingredients to be a good player for this format why not try him out ?

And why don't Usman Salahuddin get chances even after being a prolific run scorer having 23 hundreds in First class Cricket?

Because we can’t wait for them to adapt to international level like Babar had to do. Fawad is a proven performer in international cricket. We need some experience.

 

[Yash.]

I honestly don't see why would one have obsession to have a 34 year old in the side who hasn't played for close to 6 years for the International team. Why not instead have Rohail Nazir who was Pakistan's best player in U-19 World Cup this year. I mean he had all the ingredients to be a good player for this format why not try him out ?

And why don't Usman Salahuddin get chances even after being a prolific run scorer having 23 hundreds in First class Cricket?

Because he is arguably one of the best batsmen in the Pakistan domestic structure (assuming you’re talking about Fawad Alam)...

He has a first class average of 57 with the bat, with 34 centuries. How can you ignore a batsman like that?