“We are very confident with a lead of 244, another 20-30 will be a very good score” : Mushtaq Ahmed

[MenInG]

“We are very confident with a lead of 244, another 20-30 will be a very good score” : Mushtaq Ahmed

Mushtaq Ahmed speaking to the meida

"We are very happy that we have a lead of 244, and another 20-30 runs will be a very good score on this pitch and if we bowl and field well, it will be a very good match for us"

"Yasir and Shadab havent played cricket for a few months now but the way they bowled in the first inning shows that they have a good momentum and they have a good understanding of what speed to bowl on this pitch, and where to bowl etc to which batsman; Yasir had a nervy start but that is understandable but both spinners bowled really well in last session of England innings and if they can bowl well, they will be lethal"

"Misbah after advice from all of us was very clear about our decision to play 2 spinners after we saw the pitch first time; Shadab has become a very good all-rounder and his batting with Shan helped us get to 326; Shadab has a good googly against the last 4 batsmen; Misbah and Azhar in their minds were very clear about playing 2 spinners on this pitch"

"A leg-spinner has to have mental strength - when people call you a trump card and everyone's eyes are on you, the pressure builds up immediately"

Our bowlers bowled really well in the first innings, especially our fast-bowlers, who bowled with discipline; If we bowl like that again then and the way the pitch is expected to take more spin, then even 200 runs become difficult to get and so we are confident that we will be able to win this Test"

 

[MenInG]

Very confident Mushy - lot depends on those 20-30 extra runs which wont be easy to get.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Very confident Mushy - lot depends on those 20-30 extra runs which wont be easy to get.

250 should be enough on this pitch.Pakistan should not get too excited and try too hard to get wickets.Keep bowling in the right areas and field well.England will be under pressure and will make mistakes.

 

[Monsee]

By having almost all batsmen fail or throw their wickets away in second innings: Abid Ali, Asad Shafique (courtesy Rizwan's call), etc. we have ensured that England is not really out of the match. If 1-2 of their batsmen get set, this score will not be a lot to chase. Yes, Pakistan winning the game is the likely outcome but if we bowl badly, drop catches/field lapses etc. this will end up really tragic quickly!

This situation keeps reminding me of two instances which have a bigger impact on the game than anything and both involved Shadab (one way or the other):

1- When Shadab threw his wicket away in the first innings and one of the experts said (I think on Cricinfo) that this is where Asian teams fail (in England) to put their foot down. Shadab's shot will be something they will rue later because he threw a chance to put the match out of England's reach and now instead of 400 or more, they will maybe get to 325 or something (jist of the message)

2- Azhar's hesitancy in bringing Shadab to bowl last night when Pope and Buttler were quite new...they then started attacking Yasir and yet Azhar would not take him off. At that point, Shadab being a very modern sort of leggie, with a very good googly, could have helped get one of them out quickly and England could have been out with a score like 150-175.

Both the above chances were squandered and now we might not even add another run to the target tomorrow morning. This 244 lead could easily have been 300+ already but alas this is where Pak cricket always becomes painful for the supporters!

 

[aloo paratha]

250 is not easy to chase in England. India failed to chase 200 twice last time around. We defended 280 at Lords in 2016

 

[asadee]

Yaar confidence thora 2nd innings batting mein bhi dikha dete

 

[hitthestump]

Sounds like fighting talk more than anything. It's been a very poor 2nd innings performance and Pakistan have failed to take their chance to bat England out of the game.

 

[Rana]

A lot of people criticising Pakistan for their Batting on Day 3

Can someone explain what was the most runs scored by an individual today on this day? I can hardly recall any player scoring more than 30 runs today. Ollie Pope scored 20 runs over night, same as Butler.

Pakistan did well to get 321 in the first innings when they were destined to get maybe 230. Pakistan will win this easily unless the young umpire saves England with some umpire’s calls.

 

[shamaan]

Sounds like fighting talk more than anything. It's been a very poor 2nd innings performance and Pakistan have failed to take their chance to bat England out of the game.

I generally think hes being honest tbh he wouldnt have said 200 if he wasnt pressure on the spinners thou

 

[SensiblePakFan]

England wont even get 200 lol.

 

[DandyFellow]

Before the test match, we would have all taken 250 runs to chase for England in the 4th innings. In that way, nothing has changed and we stand a good chance. But, the way we crumbled in the 3rd innings that has provided momentum to England and they will want to drive on that momentum. For that, if we stand 30 mins and score 20-25 runs that would be great to harper their momentum and mood for the chase. Even if we fail on that, we should try to get the openers as soon as possible to swing the momentum. Even if that does not happen we should keep fighting hard. I feel Root, Stokes and Pope are the main players in order to get England close and if they do then Buttler and the lower order might be handy otherwise they will fall like a house of cards.

 

[shamaan]

England wont even get 200 lol.

Hopefully

 

[azimiqbal]

250 is not easy to chase in England. India failed to chase 200 twice last time around. We defended 280 at Lords in 2016

I was at that game on the last day, this pitch is a lot worse then that pitch , it’s Pakistan too lose , if they bowl well we will win this game simple

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

I dont know but i have a very sour taste in my mouth after that batting performance. Even though logic tells us that we should win, but my gut doesnt.
Feeling really negative after 137/8.

 

[Invincible Gujjar]

No need to worry on this pitch England ain't scoring more than 200.

 

[wrongun]

I think he's right. A lead of 275 gives Pakistan a reasonable chance- provided they bowl & catch well. I'd say that's a pretty close game with Pakistan maybe 60/40 or 65/35 to win.

Get rolled for a lead of just 250 & with England having the momentum and the chase seeming psychologically smaller then I'd probably favour England to win it, with 5 or 6 wickets down.

If Pakistan have a miracle & put on 40-50 runs for the last 2 wickets, they should win for sure.

 

[Last Monetarist]

It's 50:50 for me, England are not out of this by any means, all it needs is for Ben Stokes to get into the zone and bat for a couple of sessions. Pakistan have shot themselves in the foot with some of the complacent batting yesterday.

 

[Greenstorm]

I dont know but i have a very sour taste in my mouth after that batting performance. Even though logic tells us that we should win, but my gut doesnt.
Feeling really negative after 137/8.

I have a similar feeling. I think we have botched this.

 

[Giannis]

People need to remember that Mushi is a veteran when it comes to English cricket, he's played years in county and coached England, he's been in and seen enough matches in England to know what's a good score on whichever pitch. He's probably already visualized how England's 4th innings are going to unfold based off patterns.

 

[Rana]

With Pakistan

You know if the pacers can’t take wickets, you have two good leggies to bowl in tandem even if England race to 50-0 in 10 overs.

 

[AamchiMumbaikar]

Pakistan is winning baring a miracle from stokes.

 

[ataullah]

پاکستان will win inshAllah if we bowl like 1st innings and be patient. We need to keep the pressure on and bowl no freebies. Abbas is key with new ball and that will set the tone for the innings

 

[Vastunna]

A lot of people criticising Pakistan for their Batting on Day 3

Can someone explain what was the most runs scored by an individual today on this day? I can hardly recall any player scoring more than 30 runs today. Ollie Pope scored 20 runs over night, same as Butler.

Pakistan did well to get 321 in the first innings when they were destined to get maybe 230. Pakistan will win this easily unless the young umpire saves England with some umpire’s calls.

You were saying ??

 

[MenInG]

The last 30 or so runs by Pak this morning being used up now

 

[Markhor]

How many Tests have Shaheen, Naseem and Shadab played to justify this confidence in the bowlers ?

 

[hitthestump]

A lot of people criticising Pakistan for their Batting on Day 3

Can someone explain what was the most runs scored by an individual today on this day? I can hardly recall any player scoring more than 30 runs today. Ollie Pope scored 20 runs over night, same as Butler.

Pakistan did well to get 321 in the first innings when they were destined to get maybe 230. Pakistan will win this easily unless the young umpire saves England with some umpire’s calls.

Oh dear...

 

[Titan24]

To be honest Pak had them 117/5, on another day Pak could have won by a reasonable margin. Buttler and Woakes were exceptional and had bit of luck as well which is part of cricket.

 

[Savak]

To be honest Pak had them 117/5, on another day Pak could have won by a reasonable margin. Buttler and Woakes were exceptional and had bit of luck as well which is part of cricket.

The poor defensive tactics didn't help either

 

[the Great Khan]

This was tailor made for our brand of cricket. Just messed it up. Delayed shadab and didn't attack when we still had runs to play with..gutted

 

[Mamoon]

We only have one brand of cricket. It is called mediocrity.

We deserve this humiliation.

 

[ishtiaq_ctg]

We only have one brand of cricket. It is called mediocrity.

We deserve this humiliation.

Not a humiliation to lose a away test by 3 wickets tbh. Series is still alive so who knows what'll happen.

 

[MMHS]

Not a humiliation to lose a away test by 3 wickets tbh. Series is still alive so who knows what'll happen.

It was a bigger loss than the innings defeats in Australia.

What does the Tests in Australia tell - the hosts were brutally superior to PAK at their comfort zone, which is not a secret to be honest.

This Test is totally different - it was a confidence shattering experience. What does this Test tell - every thing went in favor of PAK apart from may be couple of Umpiring calls which eventually I think was neutralized. Still, ENG pulled the game back almost from PAK's abdomen.

But, the real damage was done somewhere else - more or less, you open PP and every alternate tread you'll read about the bowling skills, pace, talent ..... what not. This is a Test that ENG won chasing 277 (I think a record between ENG-PAK Tests) against 5 men PAK attack on a tailor made track, in UK for the tourist and they did it from 117/5. I don't think you can shatter PAK's confidence more than this.

This game to me is at per with the Bangalore game (1996) when it comes to off the game damage - PAK cricket should be devastated for this one.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

It was a bigger loss than the innings defeats in Australia.

What does the Tests in Australia tell - the hosts were brutally superior to PAK at their comfort zone, which is not a secret to be honest.

This Test is totally different - it was a confidence shattering experience. What does this Test tell - every thing went in favor of PAK apart from may be couple of Umpiring calls which eventually I think was neutralized. Still, ENG pulled the game back almost from PAK's abdomen.

But, the real damage was done somewhere else - more or less, you open PP and every alternate tread you'll read about the bowling skills, pace, talent ..... what not. This is a Test that ENG won chasing 277 (I think a record between ENG-PAK Tests) against 5 men PAK attack on a tailor made track, in UK for the tourist and they did it from 117/5. I don't think you can shatter PAK's confidence more than this.

This game to me is at per with the Bangalore game (1996) when it comes to off the game damage - PAK cricket should be devastated for this one.

Even Rahat, Wahab and Amir defended 280 on a Lord's pitch that was doing much less than this in 2016. And those pacers were not exactly the best. Really shocking from the bowling attack. 277 was plenty.

 

[KP From India]

Simillar to what Ind faced in NZ test 1998 tour. Chasing 213 in last innings, Srinath, Prasad had hosts 75/5, only had to break Cairns/Macmillan association.Couldn't and lost by 4 wickets.