Pakistan simply undone by pace and bounce

[90MPH]

Over the course of the day I have been reading a fair bit of nonsense on why Pakistan batting struggled and collapsed yesterday, from the wrong batting coach to having the wrong set of players or even out of shape ball. Or that suddenly Pakistan have become minnows.

The Real and the main reason Pakistan have capitulated is the conditions ! And these conditions are Alien conditions to most Pakistani players.

Just a few days ago Hazelwood said Pakistan would struggle against the pace and bounce in Brisbane and I said at the time that I totally agreed with him (you can check that thread).

Brisbane is not just a quick surface but one of the quickest surfaces in the world.

Second fact is Brisbane is a fortress for Australian cricket team. They haven't lost a Test Match for 30 years. Did some really think Pakistan would have a decent chance on this ground ? If they did they were incredibly naive given the facts and history at this venue.

This Test match is all over given the damage done but the next 2 Tests the pitches will not be as daunting because Sydney and Melbourne are nohwhere near as quick as this surface. However it will have some bounce and it's still obviously quicker than at the UAE - which comes on to my next point.

We have to be realistic that the Pakistan team will always struggle on quick bouncy wickets - Brisbane, Perth, Johannesburg and Old Trafford are all examples where past teams that had much better batting talents struggled so much so no need to throw a Ton of bricks on this current team.

Maybe they could had more practice matches but I honestly believe it wouldn't have made much difference because it takes a lot of time to get used to such conditions like Brisbane, especially if you have had little time in the middle to get used to it.

The only soloution like it or not is to get more A tours, and getting the younger top domestic batsman to play in foreign conditions especially first class
Or top club level cricket. Play in it and learn from it.

 

[Swanny]

Not just A tours, talented batsmen & bowlers should be allowed to play in domestic games in conditions opposite to those in their country. for eg some players from subcontinent should be allowed to play in Eng/Nz/SA/Aus etc & vice versa for players from those countries.
Playing just 3-4 FC games once a while is just not enough.
Maybe have a lottery system for deciding which player plays for which domestic team to avoid rich boards from interferring & getting their way.

 

[Junaids]

I agree with almost all the points.

The thing about pace and bounce is that you need low-risk scoring shots on the offside.

The likes of Azhar and Misbah only ever had a weak prod on the offside. Younis has been reduced to that by age and Shafiq by shattered nerves.

But Babar Azam and Sarfraz can play a variety of off/square/cover drives WITHIN their eyeline, as can Salman Butt and Umar Akmal.

But only two of those four viable batsmen are here.

 

[Speedster777]

Interesting comments:

In Australia counter attack, play cut, pull shots is the only way to be successful. Being defensive is not productive.
Babar Azam and those players who are strong on back foot are successful in Australia: Salman Butt

 

[PakLFC]

We're not used to playing on bouncy tracks. Can't really blame the batmen either.

 

[Syed1]

Interesting comments:

In Australia counter attack, play cut, pull shots is the only way to be successful. Being defensive is not productive.
Babar Azam and those players who are strong on back foot are successful in Australia: Salman Butt

Sami Aslam played 100 balls and scored a mighty 22 runs. This is not a one-off case. This is the team strategy. Every single batsman apart from Babar and Sarfaraz aims to just survive and not score any runs.

You can get away with it on the dead pitches of UAE, but in Australia you will get murdered since eventually you are bound to get a ball that has your name on it.

I'd very very surprised if this team doesn't get demolished in all three tests

 

[sjahmed23]

The pitch is so flat that a tail ender has played 50 balls against starc and hazelwood. There is no excuse for this abysmal performance by the batsmen, they are mentally weak and give up too quickly.

 

[shaz619]

Sami Aslam played 100 balls and scored a mighty 22 runs. This is not a one-off case. This is the team strategy. Every single batsman apart from Babar and Sarfaraz aims to just survive and not score any runs.

You can get away with it on the dead pitches of UAE, but in Australia you will get murdered since eventually you are bound to get a ball that has your name on it.

I'd very very surprised if this team doesn't get demolished in all three tests

Sami's best strength is his judgment outside off stump and he puts a value on his wicket, it's something to be appreciated by pakistani opening standards but in places like AUS he'll need some release shots to and quiet frankly he's not the best puller/cutter, just look at the poor kid to I doubt he could smash a tennis ball out the ground. Drop him for Sharjeel immediately!

 

[Speedster777]

Why does this pace and bounce affects only Misbah, Azhar, Younis and Shafiq? Howcome Sarfraz and even tailender like Amir can manage to stay on and score?