Did Babar Azam & team management botch-up the declaration decision in 1st Test against Australia?

[MenInG]

Did Babar Azam & team management botch-up the declaration decision in 1st Test against Australia?

This is the group of people who would have thought about when to declare and then came up with a decision.

They would have looked at the scoring rates during the day, check the weather and maybe looked up at the sky to see how dark it was and maybe looked around to see that lights had been on for a good while.

And then they came up with a decision to declare right at a time when it was clear that fast-bowlers would be of no use and that light was fading very fast.

 

[transparent opacity]

Missed a golden opportunity to put Aussies under pressure.

This Test is surely going towards a draw, unless Australia play some very bad cricket.

 

[Sarwar89]

Not a bad declaration at all. Neither 476 is a small total. Even Babar Azam struggled to score quick on that surface.

Pakistan needs to get Aussies out under 330 in next 120 overs and then pile up aggressive 200 in 50 overs to leave Aussies chasing 350+ on last day and hopefully on turning pitch.

Even if Pakistan would have got one wicket it would not have made huge difference in the game. Ball is new, Shaheen has to bang it hard in morning and take wickets.

 

[MenInG]

Poll added.

 

[Rana]

This is why you need an educated guy who understands cricket to be the captain. Not some hardly 10th grade pass

What was he thinking with that declaration and then making Naseem and Shaheen warm up? Surely he knew bad light would be offered anyways

Now they have 5 runs for no reason and a ball that is 1 over old!

 

[MenInG]

This is why you need an educated guy who understands cricket to be the captain. Not some hardly 10th grade pass

What was he thinking with that declaration and then making Naseem and Shaheen warm up? Surely he knew bad light would be offered anyways

Now they have 5 runs for no reason and a ball that is 1 over old!

Well what I listed in post #1 as criteria is something you dont need a PhD for.

In addition he had advice of MoYo and Saqlain - how did they think this was fine?

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A clumsy declaration from Pakistan:<br><br>Last 10 overs they only scored 42 runs for 1 wicket<br>Then they could only bowl 1 over at the opposition and that too from a spinner<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvAUS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvAUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1500079798043004933?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Saj]

Seemed like a panicked decision.

If they were going to declare they should have planned it better and attacked a lot more than they did - maybe target 70 or 80 runs in the last 10 overs.

Also they must have known the light was poor at that time and the umpires wouldn't allow the pacers to bowl.

Very strange decision and tactics.

 

[Rana]

If Aus want,

They can bat all day tomorrow and Monday, take a lead of let’s say 150 runs until lunch day 5….

And then have a crack at Pakistan on a day 5

 

[JaDed]

This is why you need an educated guy who understands cricket to be the captain. Not some hardly 10th grade pass

What was he thinking with that declaration and then making Naseem and Shaheen warm up? Surely he knew bad light would be offered anyways

Now they have 5 runs for no reason and a ball that is 1 over old!

On field Cricketing knowledge has nothing to do with Academic one..

 

[iRfaN_LA]

The defensive mentality will get us nowhere. Yes they 100% botched up the declaration. 476 runs in 2 days is a shame. All they are looking for is personal milestones. Should have made Australia bat for at least 15 overs today.

 

[Rana]

On field Cricketing knowledge has nothing to do with Academic one..

Academic education opens up the horizons of your mind. Babar is not an academic intellectual and nor is he a cricket intellectual like Javed Miandad was.

Babar is just a good batting student. That’s it.

 

[Major]

not bad, no one expected that play would had ended early.

We are forgetting that this is Australia and not Bangladesh, thus, the scoring rate isn't a problem. 2.9-3 is what test cricket is required..

declaration wasn't botched as play ending wasn't really expected. 50 mins of play was there if bad light didnt take place.

Also, had Iftikhar gotten out playing aggressive cricket, he would had been out of the test team. So our cricket culture also had that effect aswell

 

[Rana]

Well what I listed in post #1 as criteria is something you dont need a PhD for.

In addition he had advice of MoYo and Saqlain - how did they think this was fine?

Is there any proof that Moyo and Saqlain are any brighter than Babar? They weren’t exactly captains/leaders as cricketers. Yes they have played a lot of cricket but then surely they must have known that a declaration in that light would mean Pakistan has to open with spinners and keep bowling with them until the end of day’s play.

If they couldn’t foresee this, I’m not sure they are capable of their roles as senior coaches of the national side.

 

[Champ_Pal]

Academic education opens up the horizons of your mind. Babar is not an academic intellectual and nor is he a cricket intellectual like Javed Miandad was.

Babar is just a good batting student. That’s it.

You do not need high education qualifications to understand game situation. Unless you are saying Babar cannot count beyond 100.

 

[Kianig89]

The mantra of big first innings score is to pile up 550 or bat till 8th session because declaring at 476, if Aus score 300 then Pak will have to bat again and set up a target which we are not expert at, poor decision all in all specifically when you have 6 wickets should have batted till 1st hr day 3

 

[da_don]

exactly agree with above post.. you should look to bat once score atleast 550.. and then try to get opposition out .. this seemed like no planning was involved

 

[Saj]

The mantra of big first innings score is to pile up 550 or bat till 8th session because declaring at 476, if Aus score 300 then Pak will have to bat again and set up a target which we are not expert at, poor decision all in all specifically when you have 6 wickets should have batted till 1st hr day 3

That's spot on.

Also if 550 was the target then they should have had a time and number of overs in mind and accelerated accordingly. But that urgency never came from any of the batters.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Imam and Babar's batting did not help us today. Imam was far too defensive and Babar could not convert his start into a meaningful score yet again. Azhar Ali was the only one who was looking to play with some intent. If it wasn't for him I wonder if we had even gotten to 450 today.

I think Pakistan were hoping to get five overs at Australia but the light ensured even that was not possible. Pakistan should have been at 550 by the end of the day but instead we could only get 476 despite dominating for 2 days. Not good enough.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

not bad, no one expected that play would had ended early.

We are forgetting that this is Australia and not Bangladesh, thus, the scoring rate isn't a problem. 2.9-3 is what test cricket is required..

declaration wasn't botched as play ending wasn't really expected. 50 mins of play was there if bad light didnt take place.

Also, had Iftikhar gotten out playing aggressive cricket, he would had been out of the test team. So our cricket culture also had that effect aswell

Still you have to admit Pakistan had egg on their face with the declaration because they were expecting to get some overs at Australia. Had they not declared they could have come out tommorow and bash their way to 520 as quickly as possible, while also getting a measure of how the pitch is behaving.

 

[Cover Drive Six]

Run rate with <3 after playing 2 days on a flat track is not acceptable.

 

[Zaz]

they shouldve got 550 over 2 days

Like some have said the total is an between score which could cause them issues in the third innings and on last day if aus bat well for 2 days putting on 600

 

[Sarwar89]

For God sake respect our players. Getting sick and tired of this criticism. What if the team would have been all out 400 playing T20 style.

Respect Test cricket and respect Imam and Azhar’s massive tons against number 1 ranked Ashes winning team.

I wish i just wish if people would have seen how Nazar Muhammad Hanif Muhammad Asif Mujtaba Mudassar Nazar Shoaib Muhammad used to bat at home.

476 is a massive total. Aussies need to score 277 to avoid follow on.

Let’s not judge the pitch until both sides have done batting.

Geoff Boycott used to bat slower than imam and Azhar. And to be fair Babar and Rizwan tried to score fast they could not do it. So respect the opposition.

People getting personal here, passing remarks on Captain’s education. What education Ponting had or Dhoni had or Sachin had. Bringing Academic education due to unfair late or early declaration shows the mindset here. Respect Azhar Ali’s ton. Instead of glorifying two tons entire focus is on criticising team.

 

[Maher96]

I think we are cherry picking here, we got a very good first inning total on the board batted two days, had two batters who scored 150+ scores.

IMO its was a great start by the team, bowlers need to back it up thats all, don't let the scoring rate get too much and get Australia out for under 230.

 

[Cric_lover4487]

Still you have to admit Pakistan had egg on their face with the declaration because they were expecting to get some overs at Australia. Had they not declared they could have come out tommorow and bash their way to 520 as quickly as possible, while also getting a measure of how the pitch is behaving.

You have to be little sensitive to Pakistan since they are playing a home test vs Aus after 24 years. They don't want to take risks and lose the match. Pak lost test match to WI recently so that might also be playing in team management mind. I personally was annoyed by too defensive batting of Azhar Ali on this easy wicket. Babar also didn't showed any intent.

 

[sweep_shot]

It was about the right time to declare but they should've had 550 by then.

Not sure why they didn't accelerate much after crossing 400.

 

[kingusama92]

It's a good total.

Sure they could have gone faster or got the declaration right but these will be minor mistakes compared to the bowlers giving it away on days 3-4.

There are more than enough runs for the bowlers to do their job.

 

[Shazzam]

It was a great declaration. Seeing Pakistan bat was torture. They were doing nothing but wasting time on getting dot bowls. Australia will make this match more exciting.

 

[Civil]

I think the light issue made it look bad. Otherwise with a good 15 -20 overs at aussies tonight we could have had 1 or 2 wickets.

 

[Major]

Still you have to admit Pakistan had egg on their face with the declaration because they were expecting to get some overs at Australia. Had they not declared they could have come out tommorow and bash their way to 520 as quickly as possible, while also getting a measure of how the pitch is behaving.

But in hindsigth we can all say they should had done so and so...

There are many things that need to be considered.

No one expected play to end early by an hour. Yes they could had accelerated, and azhar did play the end side of his innings at a faster rate. Ifti shouldnt be required to do that because had ifti lost his wicket, he would had been dropped for ever from test. Thats the culture we have. Yet ifti and rizwan paced their innings.

Pakistan thought of having an hour to bowl with the new ball... Babar rightly stood his ground that he wont use a spinner again as the ball is new and shaheen and naseem have a better chance to get the wicket when the ball is new

 

[Major]

For God sake respect our players. Getting sick and tired of this criticism. What if the team would have been all out 400 playing T20 style.

Respect Test cricket and respect Imam and Azhar’s massive tons against number 1 ranked Ashes winning team.

I wish i just wish if people would have seen how Nazar Muhammad Hanif Muhammad Asif Mujtaba Mudassar Nazar Shoaib Muhammad used to bat at home.

476 is a massive total. Aussies need to score 277 to avoid follow on.

Let’s not judge the pitch until both sides have done batting.

Geoff Boycott used to bat slower than imam and Azhar. And to be fair Babar and Rizwan tried to score fast they could not do it. So respect the opposition.

People getting personal here, passing remarks on Captain’s education. What education Ponting had or Dhoni had or Sachin had. Bringing Academic education due to unfair late or early declaration shows the mindset here. Respect Azhar Ali’s ton. Instead of glorifying two tons entire focus is on criticising team.

Good post.

Before bashing the pakistani players its better if we first see how the australians bat on the same wicket.

.

 

[Major]

For God sake respect our players. Getting sick and tired of this criticism. What if the team would have been all out 400 playing T20 style.

Respect Test cricket and respect Imam and Azhar’s massive tons against number 1 ranked Ashes winning team.

I wish i just wish if people would have seen how Nazar Muhammad Hanif Muhammad Asif Mujtaba Mudassar Nazar Shoaib Muhammad used to bat at home.

476 is a massive total. Aussies need to score 277 to avoid follow on.

Let’s not judge the pitch until both sides have done batting.

Geoff Boycott used to bat slower than imam and Azhar. And to be fair Babar and Rizwan tried to score fast they could not do it. So respect the opposition.

People getting personal here, passing remarks on Captain’s education. What education Ponting had or Dhoni had or Sachin had. Bringing Academic education due to unfair late or early declaration shows the mindset here. Respect Azhar Ali’s ton. Instead of glorifying two tons entire focus is on criticising team.

Good post.

Before bashing the pakistani players its better if we first see how the australians bat on the same wicket.

 

[James]

It was a huge team score and a fair declaration.

Looking forward to seeing the Australian batting tomorrow.

 

[gazza619]

If Aus want,

They can bat all day tomorrow and Monday, take a lead of let’s say 150 runs until lunch day 5….

And then have a crack at Pakistan on a day 5

There is no chance in hell that Aussies are scoring 626 on this. Their tail starts at number 7 where Alex Carey has a frightening test average of 20.

 

[Rana]

There is no chance in hell that Aussies are scoring 626 on this. Their tail starts at number 7 where Alex Carey has a frightening test average of 20.

But they have batsman who can camp in and score 200+ on such tracks

Warner, Smith, Labu can all score big daddy hundreds

Khwaja and Head are also capable of scoring big once set

 

[moghul]

This is not the way a good captain makes decision , it was like Babar was scared of losing the test and was playing for draw, it was a Misbah like mentality. Should have decreased after the tea or at least an hour before the close of the day .

With so many wickets in hand SR should be much higher after the lunch. Captain, selector and coach, no one has winning mentality.

 

[ElRaja]

right time to declare but batting lacked any urgency. the pitch is slow but no one took any real risks, and taking 22 overs to go from 250 to 300 is not acceptable.

yes its wrong to comment before both teams have batted, but this is a common theme with pakistan. the top order batsmen consistently bat sub 50 s/r.

there seems to be a lack of game awareness, just one gear for sessions on end.

 

[topspin]

This is not the way a good captain makes decision , it was like Babar was scared of losing the test and was playing for draw, it was a Misbah like mentality. Should have decreased after the tea or at least an hour before the close of the day .

With so many wickets in hand SR should be much higher after the lunch. Captain, selector and coach, no one has winning mentality.

I'm glad I'm not the only who sees this. This is Misbah's legacy, bat slowly and retain your place in the side.

 

[Rana]

You’ve got to hand it to Cummins

His defensive field tactics might turn out to be correct if Australia have 2 field days with the bat and get a lead

 

[TheSultan]

For God sake respect our players. Getting sick and tired of this criticism. What if the team would have been all out 400 playing T20 style.

Respect Test cricket and respect Imam and Azhar’s massive tons against number 1 ranked Ashes winning team.

I wish i just wish if people would have seen how Nazar Muhammad Hanif Muhammad Asif Mujtaba Mudassar Nazar Shoaib Muhammad used to bat at home.

476 is a massive total. Aussies need to score 277 to avoid follow on.

Let’s not judge the pitch until both sides have done batting.

Geoff Boycott used to bat slower than imam and Azhar. And to be fair Babar and Rizwan tried to score fast they could not do it. So respect the opposition.

People getting personal here, passing remarks on Captain’s education. What education Ponting had or Dhoni had or Sachin had. Bringing Academic education due to unfair late or early declaration shows the mindset here. Respect Azhar Ali’s ton. Instead of glorifying two tons entire focus is on criticising team.

Times have moved on. When Hanif and co were batting slow, the opposition were playing at a similar rate. And moreover, a lot of the attritional innings normally come when there is trouble. There was no trouble here. Hardly any wickets down and playing at that rate is poor.

Once you have the opposition down, you keep them down. We may even win this match, but it should not even be a “May win”. When you bat for 2 days, the win should be in the bag. All they’ve done is made it a fair contest

 

[PakPremi]

Declaration was perfect time as Aussies were not throwing pies to hit for 6s. Iftikhar in particular was wasting balls, he was lucky labu gave him a freebie to hit for a 4, and anyhow it was unfair to expect him to take big risks if I'm being honest ashe may notget to bat again this test match or even play again this series especially if he got out for very low score. The only thing I would criticise was not letting Fawad bat before Rizwan and Iftikhar as he is a proper batsman and capable of scoring at 6 or 7 runs per over when needed.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

You have to be little sensitive to Pakistan since they are playing a home test vs Aus after 24 years. They don't want to take risks and lose the match. Pak lost test match to WI recently so that might also be playing in team management mind. I personally was annoyed by too defensive batting of Azhar Ali on this easy wicket. Babar also didn't showed any intent.

I don't think we were watching the same match because Azhar Ali was the one one who showed some intent and got the score upto 476. Azhar had a SR of 80+ from second session onwards while others were striking between 40-60.

 

[Bewal Express]

Poorly thought through. No real plan and totally confused.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

But in hindsigth we can all say they should had done so and so...

There are many things that need to be considered.

No one expected play to end early by an hour. Yes they could had accelerated, and azhar did play the end side of his innings at a faster rate. Ifti shouldnt be required to do that because had ifti lost his wicket, he would had been dropped for ever from test. Thats the culture we have. Yet ifti and rizwan paced their innings.

Pakistan thought of having an hour to bowl with the new ball... Babar rightly stood his ground that he wont use a spinner again as the ball is new and shaheen and naseem have a better chance to get the wicket when the ball is new

True. But I just feel like they should have been more aware. The light was only going to get dimmer with time as the sun was not coming out. A score of 550 also puts you in the position to possibly only bat once. With 476 that seems like it will be hard to to.

Still, the silver lining is that they have kept Australia on the pitch for 160 overs and taken out what should be the best days for batting on this wicket. They can still produce a result if it doesn't rain too much and if the pitch starts changing in the days ahead.

 

[Monsee]

A few things that need to be written and kept them by your TV/Computer/Cell (where you watch the game) for easier rereading over and over again:

- Don't judge a match situation or pitch behavior until both sides have finished playing their first innings
- When playing against any team, especially one of the top team's in the world, you don't get to control the whole tempo of the game
- The other team is not there to just give up and play dead and let you have your merry way
- You can't just continue hitting 6's and 4's on a pitch with sort of a variable bounce (remember the first hour on second day how some balls were rearing up like crazy)
- Even when playing on a dead pitch, a bowler can still force you to play carefully if they just bowl in the right areas and pitch is playing variable bounce
- An experienced and well settled and a top team like Aussies, will not let a comparatively newish batting lineup as ours to dictate terms no matter what your situation is

It seems the declaration was delayed a bit but then again until Aussies finish playing their innings, we will not know whether it was a good decision or not. For a team as aggressive as the Aussies, one must be careful when declaring their innings too soon and have them turn the tables on you

 

[moghul]

Anything can happen but having played enough cricket at Pindi, wickets there don't deteriorate much , not in early spring when the whether is cooler at night and not too hot at day time . This wicket will remain flat and road like and a tame draw is expected . Don't know anything about Pinid stadium wicket but had played cricket at Pindi club ground and other grounds in Pindi.

 

[wrongun]

Seemed like a panicked decision.

If they were going to declare they should have planned it better and attacked a lot more than they did - maybe target 70 or 80 runs in the last 10 overs.

Also they must have known the light was poor at that time and the umpires wouldn't allow the pacers to bowl.

Very strange decision and tactics.

I wonder if team staff are allowed their own light meter & to ask the match referee what readings umpires will become concerned at & come off.

Conditions of play should be known to both teams prior to play- but does light reading count as a condition of play?

 

[sali]

This happened because two players (Imam and Azhar) trying to make their place in the team. Individual goals were more important for them. Azhar Ali was too slow until his century. If you had Abid Ali or Shan Masood spending this much time on the pitch, Pakistan could have declared around 500 by tea. A full 90 min session would have been more interesting.

 

[Mamoon]

People blaming Imam and Azhar just so that they can deflect the blame from golden boy Babar make me laugh.

Imam and Azhar played top knocks. Only Pakistani fans are capable of criticizing batsmen for scoring 150+.

The only reason Pakistan did not cross 500 was because Babar played a nothing innings.

He came to the crease when Pakistan were 313/2. Flat pitch, deflated attack and a tired fielding unit that was on the field for 4 sessions.

Babar should have scored a half-century at a SR of 70+. Instead, he scratched around at a snail’s pace and only managed 3 boundaries in 82 deliveries.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

People blaming Imam and Azhar just so that they can deflect the blame from golden boy Babar make me laugh.

Imam and Azhar played top knocks. Only Pakistani fans are capable of criticizing batsmen for scoring 150+.

The only reason Pakistan did not cross 500 was because Babar played a nothing innings.

He came to the crease when Pakistan were 313/2. Flat pitch, deflated attack and a tired fielding unit that was on the field for 4 sessions.

Babar should have scored a half-century at a SR of 70+. Instead, he scratched around at a snail’s pace and only managed 3 boundaries in 82 deliveries.

Iftikhar can hit big - he should've been given a clear indication to go for it since we had 6 wickets remaining. But I guess either the message was not clear enough or he didn't try hard enough to take the risk and get out - which in turn, would've hindered his personal selection in the next match.

 

[Major]

Iftikhar can hit big - he should've been given a clear indication to go for it since we had 6 wickets remaining. But I guess either the message was not clear enough or he didn't try hard enough to take the risk and get out - which in turn, would've hindered his personal selection in the next match.

He tried... He batted with a strike rate of 60. This is test crixket, with no field restrictions. You cannot expect strike rate of 80plus...

 

[moghul]

Iftikhar can hit big - he should've been given a clear indication to go for it since we had 6 wickets remaining. But I guess either the message was not clear enough or he didn't try hard enough to take the risk and get out - which in turn, would've hindered his personal selection in the next match.

At this age , Iftikhar can bat well only against domestic bowlers , not at international level.

 

[Caved12]

On such a dead pitch like this one, I absolutely don't mind batting just once for 2.2 days, and then plan to get them out twice in the last 2.8 days where spinners will definitely be more effective.

Ideally we should have scored at a faster rate and declare a bit earlier on day 2, but that did not happen and the pitch has not shown any signs of going bad, so why not go crazy and add another 100 runs by batting just a little more on day 3. I think Babar has missed the trick here.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

He tried... He batted with a strike rate of 60. This is test crixket, with no field restrictions. You cannot expect strike rate of 80plus...

When you aim to hit for six, then field placing doesn't matter. It's all about intention and ability to execute.

At this age , Iftikhar can bat well only against domestic bowlers , not at international level.

Yep that's perhaps more like it.
The 60 yards PSL boundaries have many of them ordinary players look like some world beaters.

 

[Snowflake]

40 in the last 10 overs when you have several wickets in hand does not make any sense.

Pakistan 100% botched this declaration and missed a golden chance go put Aus under pressure. This test is headed for a draw.

Babar has to be blamed for this as the instructions and strategy should come from the captain.

 

[Snowflake]

Iftikhar can hit big - he should've been given a clear indication to go for it since we had 6 wickets remaining. But I guess either the message was not clear enough or he didn't try hard enough to take the risk and get out - which in turn, would've hindered his personal selection in the next match.

Given how Babar himself played his innings, I think we can safely say that such instructions were never given.

 

[adi_62941]

People blaming Imam and Azhar just so that they can deflect the blame from golden boy Babar make me laugh.

Imam and Azhar played top knocks. Only Pakistani fans are capable of criticizing batsmen for scoring 150+.

The only reason Pakistan did not cross 500 was because Babar played a nothing innings.

He came to the crease when Pakistan were 313/2. Flat pitch, deflated attack and a tired fielding unit that was on the field for 4 sessions.

Babar should have scored a half-century at a SR of 70+. Instead, he scratched around at a snail’s pace and only managed 3 boundaries in 82 deliveries.

Babar will most probably not succeed in test matches as he is not that much good red ball batsmen as compared to white ball. His FC is very average and i dont expect him to do great in tests matches either. His technique is too predictable. You bowl him outside off and he will give practise to slips

 

[TheSultan]

Ok - so where is the “let’s see both teams bat” brigade now?

The pitch has firmly been put in perspective now. The Aussies are batting at over 4 an over without losing a wicket.

I agree with some that babar’s innings was extremely poor too. His declaration was even worse.

The thing is if you want to play the safety first attritional cricket, then go ahead. But if you do that, you don’t declare under 500. You bat the other team completely out of the match - especially when you are only a few wickets down. They were better off playing half of the 3rd day too.

The declaration last night was neither here nor there. Poorly thought through indeed. Now we’re going to see the fine spectacle of Nauman Ali and Sajid Khan bowl until their arms fall off

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Given how flat the pitch was, and that they were obsessed with not scoring more than 3 and over, they should have batted untill day 3. If you told australia they could bowl pakistan out for under 500 on this pitch, i think they would have taken it.


Tbh the issue isnt the declration, rather the lack of intent with the bat

 

[TheSultan]

Given how flat the pitch was, and that they were obsessed with not scoring more than 3 and over, they should have batted untill day 3. If you told australia they could bowl pakistan out for under 500 on this pitch, i think they would have taken it.


Tbh the issue isnt the declration, rather the lack of intent with the bat

This is true, the lack of intent was the root cause. But once you’ve gone that way, then declaring on that score and at that time made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

 

[boomboomcheema]

Did Pakistan commit a blunder by declaring prematurely at 476-4 ?

Should have batted through and look to score 550 or even 600. Now by declaring well short of 500 they have presented Australia an opportunity to get a 100-150 runs lead by Tea tomorrow, thus leaving Pakistan in a tricky situation to survive the last four sessions of the match.

Opinions ?

 

[Savak]

Pakistan blundered by picking Iftikhar instead of picking a third seamer.

 

[Caved12]

Ok - so where is the “let’s see both teams bat” brigade now?

The pitch has firmly been put in perspective now. The Aussies are batting at over 4 an over without losing a wicket.

I agree with some that babar’s innings was extremely poor too. His declaration was even worse.

The thing is if you want to play the safety first attritional cricket, then go ahead. But if you do that, you don’t declare under 500. You bat the other team completely out of the match - especially when you are only a few wickets down. They were better off playing half of the 3rd day too.

The declaration last night was neither here nor there. Poorly thought through indeed. Now we’re going to see the fine spectacle of Nauman Ali and Sajid Khan bowl until their arms fall off

Spot on brother, especially the bold part!! Babar has no idea what he is doing.

 

[Caved12]

As I type this, the score is 138/0 in 33 overs. Don't be surprised if the score is close to 400 by the end of day today.

 

[Mercurial]

I don't think so. It is up to the bowlers now, they know the conditions more than the visitors, so even if it is a flat pitch they better bowl better than the visitors.

 

[Ryw]

The pitch was a motorway for runs, they played very slow, Warner and Khawaja showing them how to play on these types of pitches, no result match is coming unless pitch becomes spin friendly on day 5

 

[Moiz14]

When you play selfish players in the team, this is supposed to happen... Declaration was not early, it was the lack of intent of batters that will halt them badly.. I kept on saying that scoring at 2 runs an over is not justified on this pitch also when you are 300 for 1... But some PPers here were saying that we are t20 lovers and do not know the test cricket.. Now good luck with your test cricket guys.. I guess khwaja and Warner also doesn't know much about test cricket and they are also playing t20

 

[pakistani pride]

No, its an (un)written rule that the team winning toss and batting 1st declares post tea om day 2. You also nees the time to take 20 wickets in order to win the game.

The issue here the batting was way too slow. Imam and Azhar on day 2 should have scored way more during the morning session.

Then they send in iftikhar ahead of fawad alam but also he continues the tuk tuk.

So much for the talk Moyo, instruct them to bat and make runs. Not for personal glory!

 

[PakLFC]

Makes no difference at all. To threaten us the Aussies will need to make close to 700. That at least takes the match to the morning of day five.

 

[Cover Drive Six]

Run rate with <3 after playing 2 days on a flat track is not acceptable.

Aus scoring 4 per over

 

[Hectic]

Makes no difference at all. To threaten us the Aussies will need to make close to 700. That at least takes the match to the morning of day five.

Erm no. At this rate Australia could score 600 by drinks in the final session on day 4. That would give them 3.5 sessions to take 10 wickets. Couple of wickets under lights on day 4 and we will be sweating on day 5. Historically we know games come alive on the final day in Asian conditions.

We will likely be able to bat out the final day if the pitch remains the same but we can’t know for sure that it will. Point here is that if you declare at the end of day 2 with only 4 wickets down you need to have batted the opposition out of the game. We haven’t done that. We’ve left the door open and Australia are taking advantage big time.

 

[Moiz14]

When you play selfish players in the team, this is supposed to happen... Declaration was not early, it was the lack of intent of batters that will halt them badly.. I kept on saying that scoring at 2 runs an over is not justified on this pitch also when you are 300 for 1... But some PPers here were saying that we are t20 lovers and do not know the test cricket.. Now good luck with your test cricket guys.. I guess khwaja and Warner also doesn't know much about test cricket and they are also playing t20

 

[Cric_lover4487]

I have never liked Imam parchi and i never will. He consumed over 40 balls in his nervous 90s. He is a selfish player who only cares about his stats.

 

[AamchiMumbaikar]

Slow run rate has hurt Pak here.

 

[happydavy]

Considering how Pakistan media and this forum hounds every batsman, baring Babar, who plays for Pakistan, it's natural for all the batsmen to play a little selfish and score their runs lest they get ridiculed by media vying for their outster. Confidence in batting comes with confidence in mind, which will come with security of their positions. I would agree that Azhar Ali should take leadership role in setting up the game because he has been playing for a very long time, others i won't blame too much. Overall a score of 480ish in 160+ overs does look pretty slow when you have lost just 4 wickets, should have been 40-50 more.

 

[reversehook]

so much for the chest thumpings our players thought they would be able to do... atrocious approach...

 

[PakLFC]

Erm no. At this rate Australia could score 600 by drinks in the final session on day 4. That would give them 3.5 sessions to take 10 wickets. Couple of wickets under lights on day 4 and we will be sweating on day 5. Historically we know games come alive on the final day in Asian conditions.

We will likely be able to bat out the final day if the pitch remains the same but we can’t know for sure that it will. Point here is that if you declare at the end of day 2 with only 4 wickets down you need to have batted the opposition out of the game. We haven’t done that. We’ve left the door open and Australia are taking advantage big time.

Point is this match is set to be a draw. I would be shocked if we got a result on this pitch.

 

[Sidilicious]

Point is this match is set to be a draw. I would be shocked if we got a result on this pitch.

Dont rule out scoreboard pressure.

If Aus can take the score to 600 at the end of Day 4, anything can happen.
If Pakistan can get Aus all out in the next 2 sessions, and give a target of 200 with 2 sessions to go on Day 5, anything can happen.

However as of now, scenario 1 looks more likely.

 

[Punjab Kings]

For scoring extra 100 runs..... It needed another half day for Pakistani batsman to get these runs... Atleast 40- 45 overs..

 

[PakLFC]

Dont rule out scoreboard pressure.

If Aus can take the score to 600 at the end of Day 4, anything can happen.
If Pakistan can get Aus all out in the next 2 sessions, and give a target of 200 with 2 sessions to go on Day 5, anything can happen.

However as of now, scenario 1 looks more likely.

What pressure? The Aussies don't seem to be in any hurry to make Pak bat again. If anyone does win it will probably be the Aussies then we'll live to regret our declaration. I sense the Aussies will bat until they are all out.