Abu Dhabi: For Pakistan, it was the same old story of pressure sucking them in. And perhaps with or without the former two stalwarts — Misbah-ul Haq and Younis Khan — they would have still got tangled in Rangana Herath’s magical spell of spin bowling.
This was not a one off incident, it has been a perennial problem for Pakistan — one that they haven’t been able to tackle yet. Since 2016, five times Pakistan has lost 10 wickets in one day and in this case, it resulted in their first loss in Abu Dhabi; a fortress where they had not lost a match in the last nine Tests before this, since 2010.
South African coach Mickey Arthur accepted that Pakistan have to find a solution for their collapses which is now turning into a malaise.
“Look, it is a trend and I can’t sit here and say that our batting line up is a young line up because this is international cricket. You got to catch your teeth in international cricket and any expectation when you are in a Test match. That’s certainly expected from our batsmen. It’s disappointing. Call it pressure, I’m not sure and that’s something which we will sit down, discuss and dissect going forward,” said a dejected-looking Arthur at the post-match press briefing.
Though Azhar Ali and Asad Safiq both failed in No 3 and No 4 slots, respectively, the coach was of the view that he would still prefer them being there for the next match.
“Yes, I think that’s our best batting line-up. I think your best batsman should bat at three and our best is Azhar. Asad has batted at six for most of his career and he has to come up and take responsibility,” said Arthur, who has his task cut out to get the combination dead right before both teams meet again in Dubai on Friday.
Skipper Sarfraz Ahmad, leading the team for the first time as captain, accepted that it was a painful loss especially after getting Pakistan to a position from where they could have won.
“This is part of the game but I’m very disappointed because we had recovered really well in this game. We should have won this. We have a few issues, especially on the fifth day when we come under pressure. Some things have to change, we needed a partnership and didn’t get one,” said Ahmad, who felt some of the players didn’t show the spirit that newcomer Haris Sohail showed.
“Sohail played really well. It’s not easy to come back like he did. We’ll try and bounce back in the next game. Our batsmen played well, but they didn’t play long innings and didn’t build partnerships. If we do that, we’ll do well,” said Ahmad.
