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Azhar Mahmood shared following thoughts today after the end of Day 3 proceedings:
"We were great in 80 overs then we diverted from the team plan and they attacked us."We were not disciplined in the last 12 overs. We bowled too many bad balls in the last hour or so. I won't say that we have misread the pitch. I would say that the pitch didn't behave how we wanted it to."
"The reason behind not playing with a specialist spinner was grass on the pitch as we thought this would favor the seamers. If the match had started on time then pitch would have played differently but due to very hot weather the pitch got dry early and thus it played differently but still (Salman Ali) Agha bowled well. Also if we had played a specialist winner then someone (from bowlers) had to bat well at 7 and also playing with a spinner would have affected our batting too. Also if you had observed, the Bangladesh spinners failed to get many wickets too. Our two spinners Agha and Saim also bowled well with Saim claiming a wicket (implying that Pakistan didn't miss a specialist spinner much in this Test)."
On probable outcome of match:
"Match is still even for both sides. But we still have an odd lead of 130 runs and if we could get early wickets tomorrow and end up with an eventual innings lead of 70 runs then we can build on that and make this match ours."
On SSA's awful performance:
"Shaheen Afridi is playing the Test cricket after a long time so definitely we didn't see the same rhythm from Shaheen so far as he has been known for. But still after this series we have time for improvement, we would observe his bowling in this match and would come up with solutions. So far we have observed that problem with him is that he is unable to bowl with his wrist behind the ball and thus not getting the right results. Shaheen Afridi is definitely our best bowler and you can't just write him off with a single Test or Innings bowling."
Do bowlers performance today suggest that new bowlers filling the void of old players:
"Khurram Shehzad was the pick of the bowlers today, he bowled according to the plan. Mohammad Ali bowled well today especially the way he took the wicket of Shadman (Islam) by setting him up was brilliant. So this is a good sign for us besides (these bowlers) we have Shaheen Shah Afridi whose return to rhtym is quite essential for us now bearing in mind the upcoming series. Then you have Naseem Shah and Aamer Jamal is also at the fag end of his fitness recovery. So we have a lot of resources and options at our disposal. With comeback of Aamer Jamal in side as a batting all rounder, we can also play with a specialist spinner in the playing XI in future too."
Opinion on Aamer Jamal:
"We have already discovered a great all rounder in shape of Aamer Jamal. We didn't have that since retirement of Azhar Mehmood and Abdul Razzaq but now you have one in shape of Aamer Jamal. He would be a really balanced pick for our side as he has pace and bats aggressively too as we had seen him playing in Australia."
On pitch
Leaving grass on the wicket alone doesn't make it competitive... they should also make it harder so that bowlers can get some bounce out of it.
On pitch curation by Tony Hemming:
" Tony is new here and we guided him that we don't need a flat (Phatta) wicket to bat on, instead we need a wicket that supports both spinners and fast bowlers which can make the game more competitive and that's what people love to see in cricket. For the next match, we are expecting a lively wicket that offers some pace and bounce."
"He has his own style of working. He has asked PCB regarding some resources which he would get overtime. It was great of him to prepare a pitch in such a short time (for Bangladesh Test series). But in future we would ask him to prepare pitches as per our demands. He is a seasoned campaigner with rich experience in pitch curating worldwide."
On missing Mir Hamza:
"There is no two opinion regarding Mir Hamza being an excellent bowler. We were confused regarding our fourth pacer as we had to choose between Mohammad Ali and Mir Hamza. As you said Mir Hamza is a good swinger of the new ball and as we already had two new ball bowlers who were going to bowl with the new ball therefore we decided to opt for someone who could bowl with the old ball and hit the deck hard. That is why we ended up with Mohammad Ali, also we were wary regarding the fact that if we give Mir Hamza a chance here then it should have been a proper one for him where he could bowl with new ball too."
"We were great in 80 overs then we diverted from the team plan and they attacked us."We were not disciplined in the last 12 overs. We bowled too many bad balls in the last hour or so. I won't say that we have misread the pitch. I would say that the pitch didn't behave how we wanted it to."
"The reason behind not playing with a specialist spinner was grass on the pitch as we thought this would favor the seamers. If the match had started on time then pitch would have played differently but due to very hot weather the pitch got dry early and thus it played differently but still (Salman Ali) Agha bowled well. Also if we had played a specialist winner then someone (from bowlers) had to bat well at 7 and also playing with a spinner would have affected our batting too. Also if you had observed, the Bangladesh spinners failed to get many wickets too. Our two spinners Agha and Saim also bowled well with Saim claiming a wicket (implying that Pakistan didn't miss a specialist spinner much in this Test)."
On probable outcome of match:
"Match is still even for both sides. But we still have an odd lead of 130 runs and if we could get early wickets tomorrow and end up with an eventual innings lead of 70 runs then we can build on that and make this match ours."
On SSA's awful performance:
"Shaheen Afridi is playing the Test cricket after a long time so definitely we didn't see the same rhythm from Shaheen so far as he has been known for. But still after this series we have time for improvement, we would observe his bowling in this match and would come up with solutions. So far we have observed that problem with him is that he is unable to bowl with his wrist behind the ball and thus not getting the right results. Shaheen Afridi is definitely our best bowler and you can't just write him off with a single Test or Innings bowling."
Do bowlers performance today suggest that new bowlers filling the void of old players:
"Khurram Shehzad was the pick of the bowlers today, he bowled according to the plan. Mohammad Ali bowled well today especially the way he took the wicket of Shadman (Islam) by setting him up was brilliant. So this is a good sign for us besides (these bowlers) we have Shaheen Shah Afridi whose return to rhtym is quite essential for us now bearing in mind the upcoming series. Then you have Naseem Shah and Aamer Jamal is also at the fag end of his fitness recovery. So we have a lot of resources and options at our disposal. With comeback of Aamer Jamal in side as a batting all rounder, we can also play with a specialist spinner in the playing XI in future too."
Opinion on Aamer Jamal:
"We have already discovered a great all rounder in shape of Aamer Jamal. We didn't have that since retirement of Azhar Mehmood and Abdul Razzaq but now you have one in shape of Aamer Jamal. He would be a really balanced pick for our side as he has pace and bats aggressively too as we had seen him playing in Australia."
On pitch
Leaving grass on the wicket alone doesn't make it competitive... they should also make it harder so that bowlers can get some bounce out of it.
On pitch curation by Tony Hemming:
" Tony is new here and we guided him that we don't need a flat (Phatta) wicket to bat on, instead we need a wicket that supports both spinners and fast bowlers which can make the game more competitive and that's what people love to see in cricket. For the next match, we are expecting a lively wicket that offers some pace and bounce."
"He has his own style of working. He has asked PCB regarding some resources which he would get overtime. It was great of him to prepare a pitch in such a short time (for Bangladesh Test series). But in future we would ask him to prepare pitches as per our demands. He is a seasoned campaigner with rich experience in pitch curating worldwide."
On missing Mir Hamza:
"There is no two opinion regarding Mir Hamza being an excellent bowler. We were confused regarding our fourth pacer as we had to choose between Mohammad Ali and Mir Hamza. As you said Mir Hamza is a good swinger of the new ball and as we already had two new ball bowlers who were going to bowl with the new ball therefore we decided to opt for someone who could bowl with the old ball and hit the deck hard. That is why we ended up with Mohammad Ali, also we were wary regarding the fact that if we give Mir Hamza a chance here then it should have been a proper one for him where he could bowl with new ball too."
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