A different perspective into Pakistan's second innings in the second Test vs South Africa

[Dr_Bassim]

Everyone is celebrating how a few Pakistani batsmen took South African bowling to the cleaners and somehow scored 294 runs which is an achievement considering they were supposed to lose by an innings.

I am going to play the Devil's advocate here and suggest what actually changed and why this type of performance is the exception rather than the norm.

Babar and Shan ( a much improved one I must say ) are the two batsmen who scored bulk of the runs, which augurs well for the future but the situation they came into the team with 250 runs down is NOT a pressure situation.

You have NOTHING to lose when you are 250 runs down and staring at the brink of an innings defeat. You can play your natural game without any worry because the worst that can happen is a LOSS which is going to happen anyways.

Bring in Asad Shafiq, career on the line, staring at 250 runs barrel, of course, he is going to perform. He has no pressure of getting out, and if he does, he knows the knives are out anyways. There is nothing to WIN IN the game.

I shall gladly take a humble pie and acknowledge that we have indeed transformed if Pakistan can take this performance into a substantial 1st innings in the 3rd test if they bat first or if South Africa bat first, then if they can overhaul or close South African total provided South Africa put up a good score.

But if a 250 run deficit allows your batsmen to play naturally and freely and you start celebrating it as turning over a new leaf then we seriously have to disagree on what we saw.

P.S I'm tempted to leave Babar out of it, because he is a genuinely good batsmen and will only grow.

Discuss.

 

[Savak]

This was perhaps the most aggressive I have ever seen Asad Shafiq bat for a while. Unlike the timid player we have accustomed to seeing, this is how he used to bat early on in his career before he decided to impress Misbah with his 30 Sr style play

 

[WengerOut]

Batsmen only grow by getting confidence. In the case of Shan and Babar, any runs are important to prove to themselves that they can compete abroad. Asad is a special case though. I have seen enough of these type of innings from him when there was nothing to lose.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Not fair on Asad Shafiq. Although there was no pressure of winning, his position was on the line, and he performed under pressure.

Problem is with the captain and the coach, who are not able to create a healthy environment therefore the players are not reaching their potential.

 

[Varun]

South Africa would have let the foot off the gas as well. Don't underestimate that facet.

 

[Junaids]

Not fair on Asad Shafiq. Although there was no pressure of winning, his position was on the line, and he performed under pressure.

Problem is with the captain and the coach, who are not able to create a healthy environment therefore the players are not reaching their potential.

I agree.

Shafiq was as good as Babar and Masood.

Look instead at Azhar Ali and Fakhar Zaman, who were outscored in two innings by every South African tailender in one innings.

And Imam wasn’t much better.

 

[Abdullah]

Got to wait for the next test I suppose. I'm still angry we had one tour game and not 3. We are not good enough to travel like that.
I expect us to do well in the next game now, cos most of the guys have got time under the belt, except fakhar

 

[Wristy_Shuffler]

Nobody is really celebrating, it's just recognition of a couple of good innings against a good pace attack on a tough wicket. If you can't acknowledge that then you might as well give up watching sport entirely.

Pakistan tour here rarely. Innings like this are rare and in each of Paks tours to SA or Aus, they've had their moments but failed to get a single win. It's a monkey on their backs now and it's frustrating watching them lose game after game.

 

[Mr.Q]

Good thread Bas.

1) Letting South Africa score 431 on this wicket is criminal. Bowlers shouldn’t have given away so many runs against that very average batting lineup. And South Africans are one lucky bunch. The ball just doesn’t want to hit the edge when they’re batting. I know it sounds a bit silly but anyone watching the match would get that impression. Same thing happened when India toured too.

2) Most of the runs came when the match was already very much lost. SA was clearly focusing on taking the wickets with aggressive field placements. Hitting some boundaries through the large vacant areas on the field doesn’t mean much. IIRC, on the leg side they had just three fielders. A short leg close to the batsman, a deep square leg and a mid on. So while the signs are encouraging, the issues aren’t fixed yet. Shan, Babar and Shafiq are Pakistan’s best batsmen. Shafiq needs to see a sports psychologist.

 

[Fahdi]

Not sure what you are talking about. Nobody is really celebrating this innings. Nobody is thinking Pakistan somehow transformed.

 

[The intelligent Supporter]

Everyone is celebrating how a few Pakistani batsmen took South African bowling to the cleaners and somehow scored 294 runs which is an achievement considering they were supposed to lose by an innings.

I am going to play the Devil's advocate here and suggest what actually changed and why this type of performance is the exception rather than the norm.

Babar and Shan ( a much improved one I must say ) are the two batsmen who scored bulk of the runs, which augurs well for the future but the situation they came into the team with 250 runs down is NOT a pressure situation.

You have NOTHING to lose when you are 250 runs down and staring at the brink of an innings defeat. You can play your natural game without any worry because the worst that can happen is a LOSS which is going to happen anyways.

Bring in Asad Shafiq, career on the line, staring at 250 runs barrel, of course, he is going to perform. He has no pressure of getting out, and if he does, he knows the knives are out anyways. There is nothing to WIN IN the game.

I shall gladly take a humble pie and acknowledge that we have indeed transformed if Pakistan can take this performance into a substantial 1st innings in the 3rd test if they bat first or if South Africa bat first, then if they can overhaul or close South African total provided South Africa put up a good score.

But if a 250 run deficit allows your batsmen to play naturally and freely and you start celebrating it as turning over a new leaf then we seriously have to disagree on what we saw.

P.S I'm tempted to leave Babar out of it, because he is a genuinely good batsmen and will only grow.

Discuss.

RIP Logic...
So if your position is on the line, there is no pressure of getting out?

 

[Josh]

The pitch actually played well yesterday when Pakistan came to bat. Except initial 10 overs.

 

[The intelligent Supporter]

most players when under pressure for their spot would go into a shell

Some like Azhar Ali useless are too timid to ever come out of the shell.

Brilliant knock by Asad, but no one is saying its a NEW 2.0 golden era for Pakistan

 

[Dr_Bassim]

RIP Logic...
So if your position is on the line, there is no pressure of getting out?

Coming days will tell if I was right or wrong.

But Asad Shafiq played knowing that if he fails he would be kicked out and if he succeeds he might get a lifeline.

When you on that brink, most batsmen would just attack and forget about other issues.

I am going to have to see the last test to see whether he has indeed adopted a positive stance or was it because he had no option but to go for it.

 

[rollingstoned]

Everyone is celebrating how a few Pakistani batsmen took South African bowling to the cleaners and somehow scored 294 runs which is an achievement considering they were supposed to lose by an innings.

I am going to play the Devil's advocate here and suggest what actually changed and why this type of performance is the exception rather than the norm.

Babar and Shan ( a much improved one I must say ) are the two batsmen who scored bulk of the runs, which augurs well for the future but the situation they came into the team with 250 runs down is NOT a pressure situation.

You have NOTHING to lose when you are 250 runs down and staring at the brink of an innings defeat. You can play your natural game without any worry because the worst that can happen is a LOSS which is going to happen anyways.

Bring in Asad Shafiq, career on the line, staring at 250 runs barrel, of course, he is going to perform. He has no pressure of getting out, and if he does, he knows the knives are out anyways. There is nothing to WIN IN the game.

I shall gladly take a humble pie and acknowledge that we have indeed transformed if Pakistan can take this performance into a substantial 1st innings in the 3rd test if they bat first or if South Africa bat first, then if they can overhaul or close South African total provided South Africa put up a good score.

But if a 250 run deficit allows your batsmen to play naturally and freely and you start celebrating it as turning over a new leaf then we seriously have to disagree on what we saw.

P.S I'm tempted to leave Babar out of it, because he is a genuinely good batsmen and will only grow.

Discuss.

Although this is harsh i am inclined to agree a bit and wait for a bit before jumping the gun and calling this the start of a new era or cause for lot of optimism or something when the series has been lost and quite comfortably at that. Yes it does give food for thought as to what might have been possible had they arrived sooner and prepared better but you tend to expect at least 1 good innings of batting from a team on a tour and this was probably it from Pakistan's POV. A losing or disadvantageous position can also sometimes be an opportunity for downhill skiing which as impressive as it was i honestly thought Babar's innings at Centurion was.

 

[786warrior]

Everyone is celebrating how a few Pakistani batsmen took South African bowling to the cleaners and somehow scored 294 runs which is an achievement considering they were supposed to lose by an innings.

I am going to play the Devil's advocate here and suggest what actually changed and why this type of performance is the exception rather than the norm.

Babar and Shan ( a much improved one I must say ) are the two batsmen who scored bulk of the runs, which augurs well for the future but the situation they came into the team with 250 runs down is NOT a pressure situation.

You have NOTHING to lose when you are 250 runs down and staring at the brink of an innings defeat. You can play your natural game without any worry because the worst that can happen is a LOSS which is going to happen anyways.

Bring in Asad Shafiq, career on the line, staring at 250 runs barrel, of course, he is going to perform. He has no pressure of getting out, and if he does, he knows the knives are out anyways. There is nothing to WIN IN the game.

I shall gladly take a humble pie and acknowledge that we have indeed transformed if Pakistan can take this performance into a substantial 1st innings in the 3rd test if they bat first or if South Africa bat first, then if they can overhaul or close South African total provided South Africa put up a good score.

But if a 250 run deficit allows your batsmen to play naturally and freely and you start celebrating it as turning over a new leaf then we seriously have to disagree on what we saw.

P.S I'm tempted to leave Babar out of it, because he is a genuinely good batsmen and will only grow.

Discuss.

SPOT ON - business as usual next match - innings defeat for these gutless batsman led by a coward of a captain (just read his statements on cricinfo blaming the bowlers!) He never mentioned his own pathetic batting, keeping or god awful captaincy from what I read!