"Considering the position we were in, we should've gone on to win the match" : Sarfaraz Ahmed

[Abdullah719]

"Considering the position we were in, we should've gone on to win the match" : Sarfaraz Ahmed

Sarfaraz Ahmed speaking after Pakistan lost the first Test to Sri Lanka:

"Wins and losses are part of the game but we're bitterly disappointed. We had made a recovery after the first innings and considering the position we were in today, we should have gone on to win the match."

"We want to rectify these fifth-day issues. We have had some issues in the recent past where we come under pressure on the fifth day. We've been missing one good partnership at the top in these kind of situations."

"The new ball was giving spinners some purchase and we used that well also yesterday. Today we lost five early wickets because of that as well. The pitch played pretty well and was the same for both teams."

"Haris Sohail played brilliantly, it's not easy to make a comeback after such a long time. He played crucial innings both times and I think it was a very good debut. Hopefully he keeps performing for Pakistan in future."

"We will try to comeback well in the next match and rectify our mistakes. The batsmen made some good scores but couldn't play big knocks. We need to play long innings and build big partnerships."

 

[Napa]

Not one word in praise of the Sri Lankans.

 

[cricketerB94]

Maybe, try to cut down your RR a little bit more in next match.

 

[mmkextreme_1]

I still maintain considering the situation Sarfaraz should have come up the order bat, we have too many 1-dimensional batsmen in the top 5.

Also, that shot he played was atrocious, if he was there until the end, Pakistan could have won this test match.

 

[sachin100]

in the next match also if pak is chasing less than 200 against herath pak will lose.he is a beast in defending 4 th innings totals.

 

[Madplayer]

Useless shot by him. But tbh him and haris saved Pakistan's face. It could have been an 80 run defeat.

 

[pkwdpassion]

It was Pakistan's match to lose and thats what they did, absolutely shameful.

Either Sarfraz should promote himself or replace the top 4 garbage with some dynamic players from our domestic structure.
If he wants to become another yesman like Misbah, then really can't expect much.
He and Mickey Arthur should use this loss to HAVE MORE SAY in the selection of squad than the Akmal lobby's favorite guy Inzimam or else in one year time I'm pretty sure Sarfraz won't be in the team.
For me the true selection cmmte. is the tour management cmmte. comprising of coach and captain who make the most important decisions on the field and therefore their opinion should matter.
Fakhar Zaman and now Haris Sohail have proven the players in domestic structure are much better than our garbage top order,who are repeated due to their political connections or nepotism. Deserving players from domestic leagues should be selected and for that captain or coach should be part of selection cmmte.

 

[todfod 11]

Only if he had shown little guts and have opened the inning. A quick 30 40 would have done wonders. seriously I thought him to be a little aggressive and positive captain who can think out of the box but Nah. Test played is played seesion by session and not by a plan made 5 days earlier at the start of the play.

 

[HateKiller]

Sarfaraz is right. Everybody thought Pakistan would/should win at the start of 4th innings.
Team lacks good players of spin. Players of 90s would have thrashed this SL bowling line-up in same conditions. As has been correctly said on PP, standards of batters against spin bowling has come down worldwide.

 

[Napa]

Fakhar Zaman and now Haris Sohail have proven the players in domestic structure are much better than our garbage top order,who are repeated due to their political connections or nepotism.

I was surprised Fakhar was not in the team after his performance in the CT. Though he may be more suited to ODIs, however scoring a century in the final should get you into the team in every format.

 

[New Yorker]

I was surprised Fakhar was not in the team after his performance in the CT. Though he may be more suited to ODIs, however scoring a century in the final should get you into the team in every format.

No it shouldn't, at all. But he's also been scoring in FC.

 

[New Yorker]

It was Pakistan's match to lose and thats what they did, absolutely shameful.

Either Sarfraz should promote himself or replace the top 4 garbage with some dynamic players from our domestic structure.
If he wants to become another yesman like Misbah, then really can't expect much.
He and Mickey Arthur should use this loss to HAVE MORE SAY in the selection of squad than the Akmal lobby's favorite guy Inzimam or else in one year time I'm pretty sure Sarfraz won't be in the team.
For me the true selection cmmte. is the tour management cmmte. comprising of coach and captain who make the most important decisions on the field and therefore their opinion should matter.
Fakhar Zaman and now Haris Sohail have proven the players in domestic structure are much better than our garbage top order,who are repeated due to their political connections or nepotism. Deserving players from domestic leagues should be selected and for that captain or coach should be part of selection cmmte.

Not clear the outcome would be better. Does Mickey know who is doing well on the domestic scene? He
gets to look at players selected for special camps and such, which are subject to the same PCB selection
bias. As for those who are performing poorly on the team, is it not likely that Shafiq is there also because
he has Sarfraz's and Mickey's support? The one advantage that I can see is blocking blatant nepotistic appointment like Masood. It doesnt matter how well he does in the UAE, he is a bunny in England and that
is where we are going next.

 

[the Great Khan]

if he hadnt played that stupid shot we would have one. Time and again in cricket history a team chasing small totals loses early wickets. The middle and lower order are the ones who have to get you over the line. We should have one. End of. If he had made another ten or 15 runs instead of that shot we would have. But then that applies to masood and sami too. A small 40 run partnership from these two would have meant an easy win..

 

[Napa]

No it shouldn't, at all. But he's also been scoring in FC.

I would still give Fakhar a try in Tests when the alternatives are Sami Aslam (avg 33, 12 Tests), Shan Masood (avg 24, 11 Tests), Babar Azam (avg 26, 10 Tests) and Asad Shafiq (avg 39, 57 Tests).

You need a bunch of batsmen in the avg 45 to 52 range if you are going to have consistent success in Tests.

I understand you need a different technique for Tests. But Fakhar has shown that he can score in ODIs. There is a chance he will change his technique to adapt to Tests (like Pandya has). The alternatives seem to be TTFs.

There is also the issue of building confidence of young players. One should not delay in rewarding success. If you wait too long players lose confidence, and then when they are finally given a chance the pressure is too much and they fail.

 

[Titan24]

I would still give Fakhar a try in Tests when the alternatives are Sami Aslam (avg 33, 12 Tests), Shan Masood (avg 24, 11 Tests), Babar Azam (avg 26, 10 Tests) and Asad Shafiq (avg 39, 57 Tests).

You need a bunch of batsmen in the avg 45 to 52 range if you are going to have consistent success in Tests.

I understand you need a different technique for Tests. But Fakhar has shown that he can score in ODIs. There is a chance he will change his technique to adapt to Tests (like Pandya has). The alternatives seem to be TTFs.

There is also the issue of building confidence of young players. One should not delay in rewarding success. If you wait too long players lose confidence, and then when they are finally given a chance the pressure is too much and they fail.

Pretty valid point.

Also Fakhar recently scored a century at 100 plus SR in a recent match of Quaid -E- Azam Trophy.

Also his career average is around 42 with a SR of 60 in four day cricket.

Test cricket really needs such players to attract crowd to the stadiums.

 

[Titan24]

I would still give Fakhar a try in Tests when the alternatives are Sami Aslam (avg 33, 12 Tests), Shan Masood (avg 24, 11 Tests), Babar Azam (avg 26, 10 Tests) and Asad Shafiq (avg 39, 57 Tests).

You need a bunch of batsmen in the avg 45 to 52 range if you are going to have consistent success in Tests.

I understand you need a different technique for Tests. But Fakhar has shown that he can score in ODIs. There is a chance he will change his technique to adapt to Tests (like Pandya has). The alternatives seem to be TTFs.

There is also the issue of building confidence of young players. One should not delay in rewarding success. If you wait too long players lose confidence, and then when they are finally given a chance the pressure is too much and they fail.

Also its not like Fakhar hasnt played a lot of FC matches, he has played 36 which is good enough number.

While bringing Shadab to the test was debatable as he didnt have much experience of first class however thats not the case with Fakhar.