"One of the most professional performances I've ever seen by a Pakistan team" : Geoffrey Boycott

[Abdullah719]

"One of the most professional performances I've ever seen by a Pakistan team" : Geoffrey Boycott

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Geoffrey Boycott "well done Pakistan, they have outplayed England in every department. This has been one of the most professional performances I have ever seen by a Pakistan team" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EngvPak?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EngvPak</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1000685607004377088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2018</a></blockquote>
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[Markhor]

Credit must go towards not only Mickey Arthur but also Steve Rixon, Grant Flower and Azhar Mahmood.

Fielding was as good as I've ever seen from a Pakistan team. We batted with discipline, patience and composure without going into a shell. And we bowled the perfect length for English conditions.

 

[Bewal Express]

Credit must go towards not only Mickey Arthur but also Steve Rixon, Grant Flower and Azhar Mahmood.

Fielding was as good as I've ever seen from a Pakistan team. We batted with discipline, patience and composure without going into a shell. And we bowled the perfect length for English conditions.

Not a big fan of coaching but in this match they def looked well drilled.

 

[Slim]

Credit must go towards not only Mickey Arthur but also Steve Rixon, Grant Flower and Azhar Mahmood.

Fielding was as good as I've ever seen from a Pakistan team. We batted with discipline, patience and composure without going into a shell. And we bowled the perfect length for English conditions.

Without any doubt, our team looks so competent. Series by series, you can see the improvement. Amazing stuff.

 

[MeanAndGreen]

Said it in the pre-match thread. We are starting to assemble a very very good cricket team in all 3 formats. Yes, there will be ups and downs - which you expect with a young side - but Mickey and his team are putting in the hard yards and will continue to reap rewards.

I know its a cliche but Pakistan has always had the natural skill; they are now starting to improve in the basics of batting, bowling and fielding which hopefully results in a much more consistent side. Ground fielding and catching has been excellent, bowlers bowled the right lengths (yes, I can't believe this either) and the strike rotation has been on point - exemplified no better than Shafiq who for the first time in ages, came to the crease in a pressure situation and actually looked to attack and score rather than go into his shell.

Great stuff by the boys and they've done their country proud.

 

[MMHS]

Me too - that batting discipline was a new experience for me as well. Never expected PAK batsmen to grind opponents out of the game in one innings, it could have been by innings had Babar not been injured. Catching was fantastic, bowling as well. I have seen sparkling PAK team, but not always ruthless.

Apart from the last session of Day 3 (which I believe is only because of lack of fitness & stamina, due to playing least number of Tests & FC games), it’s a 10/10 performance. Poms were pathetic, but they were facing a much better unit as well.

 

[fawad_wellwisher]

Me too - that batting discipline was a new experience for me as well. Never expected PAK batsmen to grind opponents out of the game in one innings, it could have been by innings had Babar not been injured. Catching was fantastic, bowling as well. I have seen sparkling PAK team, but not always ruthless.

Apart from the last session of Day 3 (which I believe is only because of lack of fitness & stamina, due to playing least number of Tests & FC games), it’s a 10/10 performance. Poms were pathetic, but they were facing a much better unit as well.

Well Pakistan under Misbah did grind the opposition in batting. In this case, it was bowling with patience in the right areas and getting the results.

The young players seem to have natural mental strength and it is rubbing off on senior players like Shafiq. Improvement in fitness levels is also contributing to this new mental strength and focus to win a game.

 

[MMHS]

Well Pakistan under Misbah did grind the opposition in batting. In this case, it was bowling with patience in the right areas and getting the results.

The young players seem to have natural mental strength and it is rubbing off on senior players like Shafiq. Improvement in fitness levels is also contributing to this new mental strength and focus to win a game.

Misbah’s team batted like UAE condition & they had a head start there. Once visitors got settled, Batting wasn’t that assured. Here, entire line up is playing as a batting unit with a purpose (don’t ever underestimate Azhar/Hari partnership on 2nd morning - PAK could have easily gone to lunch 128/4, without that). At the end, PAK RR was well over 3, after the initial grinding, which was hardly a case for Misbah’s team - they played in one gear & allowed time to hunt for them one by one; here Test was fine she’d like n 3 days & a bit.


Overall team caught brilliantly and was ruthless against tail. If ICRC, Poms’ last 9 wickets (combined innings), earned them like 18 runs (9/18!!!!!!) - this actually shows the ruthlessness & intensity.

Totally a different level from the snooze feast of UAE.

 

[fawad_wellwisher]

Misbah’s team batted like UAE condition & they had a head start there. Once visitors got settled, Batting wasn’t that assured. Here, entire line up is playing as a batting unit with a purpose (don’t ever underestimate Azhar/Hari partnership on 2nd morning - PAK could have easily gone to lunch 128/4, without that). At the end, PAK RR was well over 3, after the initial grinding, which was hardly a case for Misbah’s team - they played in one gear & allowed time to hunt for them one by one; here Test was fine she’d like n 3 days & a bit.


Overall team caught brilliantly and was ruthless against tail. If ICRC, Poms’ last 9 wickets (combined innings), earned them like 18 runs (9/18!!!!!!) - this actually shows the ruthlessness & intensity.

Totally a different level from the snooze feast of UAE.

Yes it did not look like the batsmen were grinding in this test match but rather played with a purpose. It was good to see Shafiq play with aggression. But the highlight was Haris who at 3 looks to settle down and play with a decent S/R. In the 2nd innings he was toying with the English bowling attack.

 

[Markhor]

(don’t ever underestimate Azhar/Hari partnership on 2nd morning - PAK could have easily gone to lunch 128/4, without that).

Yes ! I'm glad somebody has mentioned that partnership - but specifically that last hour on the first day was vital.

We could've easily lost momentum from our bowling display by losing further top order wickets in those overcast conditions - especially after Imam's dismissal.

Anderson and Broad were beating the bat a few times and had they dismissed those two then the middle order (with Sarfraz at 6) would've been under pressure.

Their discipline outside off stump and patience was excellent, and not something you associate always with Pakistani batsmen in England.