Abdullah719
T20I Captain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Runs
- 44,825
Azhar Ali at a press conference today (full quotes):
“Of course, we’re sad about not winning but some things happen that aren’t in your control. We can learn from this experience. We are disappointed. We came here to not only draw the series but win it. We had an opportunity to do that but we missed it and England performed well under pressure.
“Babar batted superbly. Conditions mostly weren’t easy for batting. The way he batted with authority, few batsmen did that in this series. It’s great for us how he is improving in Tests. He’s a world class player and we need to be patient.
“We all know Naseem Shah’s talent. He showed glimpses of it with the way he bowled against Root and Buttler. He’s inexperienced and he’ll learn. He’s been with us since 3-4 series and he has pace. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get wickets as we were expecting as a nation but this is cricket and sometimes that happens. I’m positive that the talent will perform in future insha’Allah.
“When we lost the first Test then obviously everything was put on the captain which was tough. However, we wanted to turn the series around. With my own performance and as a team also. The way we played in the 2nd Test showed that we were focused on the series.
“The first Test cost us. If we won that Test and with the weather like this, we would have won the series.
“The positives are so many from this series. Unfortunately, the results aren’t in our favor. Mistakes happen in cricket but if you learn, you’ll come back. We played good cricket and this was the message from the team management also. In the 1st and 2nd Tests, we played good cricket but the sessions that really mattered, we lost, but we dominated the first Test mostly. After that, we also fought whereas other teams collapse in such situations and start pointing fingers at eachother. But that didn’t happen.
“All-rounders create balance especially medium pacers. Faheem Ashraf is working hard to make his spot in the team. Rizwan’s performances were important and he did really well. Shadab also performed really well in the first Test but we had to bench him due to conditions, his performance didn’t warrant that. We are close to finding the right balance but we’re not there yet. Rizwan’s performances show that we can consider him at #6. Shadab as an AR has shown he’s good enough for #7. We have to find someone at #8, if conditions are good for bowling, we need a medium pacer AR.
“Regarding Asad, even I didn’t have any form but after one inning, things look a lot better. Asad got starts but unfortunately he got run out in Manchester. He has all the potential and experience, we have to back him. The media should also support players who have done well in the past. He’s just one innings away, you know his class, he’s a very good batsman who has made runs in tough situations in Eng, SA, Aus, he can perform anywhere. If he plays one big inning, things will come together for him. He did well in the last 2 series.
“There’s a lot that you can look at in hindsight and say we could’ve done differently but I think we didn’t do that much wrong. In this Test, we couldn’t control the RR early on and the game went away from us. This is Test cricket, small mistakes can cost you but there’s many positives. Rather than focusing on the mistakes, we should look at the positives and build on them. There were more positives than negatives for us in this series.
“I only play Test cricket so there are often long gaps. When other teams work on you in the meantime then you realize on things you may need to change. In practice matches, I did well and scored. If you compare, in 2016 I was very side on and I opened myself a bit. This time, I opened myself even more in the last Test. This looks easy but it’s not easy to do during a match. I tried to correct it. In the 2nd Test, I had played a good number of balls and I felt confident but the pressure remained because of the lack of runs. You don’t feel comfort and you would have seen that in this innings.
“We have played lots of cricket without crowds in UAE. Besides Friday, there’s hardly any crowd there so we’re used to it. But with the rest of the squad and management there including the T20 squad, we had some support. Of course, we missed the fan who turn up in great numbers especially in England. We didn’t get to see that green crowd but I don’t think it affected our performances.”
“Of course, we’re sad about not winning but some things happen that aren’t in your control. We can learn from this experience. We are disappointed. We came here to not only draw the series but win it. We had an opportunity to do that but we missed it and England performed well under pressure.
“Babar batted superbly. Conditions mostly weren’t easy for batting. The way he batted with authority, few batsmen did that in this series. It’s great for us how he is improving in Tests. He’s a world class player and we need to be patient.
“We all know Naseem Shah’s talent. He showed glimpses of it with the way he bowled against Root and Buttler. He’s inexperienced and he’ll learn. He’s been with us since 3-4 series and he has pace. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get wickets as we were expecting as a nation but this is cricket and sometimes that happens. I’m positive that the talent will perform in future insha’Allah.
“When we lost the first Test then obviously everything was put on the captain which was tough. However, we wanted to turn the series around. With my own performance and as a team also. The way we played in the 2nd Test showed that we were focused on the series.
“The first Test cost us. If we won that Test and with the weather like this, we would have won the series.
“The positives are so many from this series. Unfortunately, the results aren’t in our favor. Mistakes happen in cricket but if you learn, you’ll come back. We played good cricket and this was the message from the team management also. In the 1st and 2nd Tests, we played good cricket but the sessions that really mattered, we lost, but we dominated the first Test mostly. After that, we also fought whereas other teams collapse in such situations and start pointing fingers at eachother. But that didn’t happen.
“All-rounders create balance especially medium pacers. Faheem Ashraf is working hard to make his spot in the team. Rizwan’s performances were important and he did really well. Shadab also performed really well in the first Test but we had to bench him due to conditions, his performance didn’t warrant that. We are close to finding the right balance but we’re not there yet. Rizwan’s performances show that we can consider him at #6. Shadab as an AR has shown he’s good enough for #7. We have to find someone at #8, if conditions are good for bowling, we need a medium pacer AR.
“Regarding Asad, even I didn’t have any form but after one inning, things look a lot better. Asad got starts but unfortunately he got run out in Manchester. He has all the potential and experience, we have to back him. The media should also support players who have done well in the past. He’s just one innings away, you know his class, he’s a very good batsman who has made runs in tough situations in Eng, SA, Aus, he can perform anywhere. If he plays one big inning, things will come together for him. He did well in the last 2 series.
“There’s a lot that you can look at in hindsight and say we could’ve done differently but I think we didn’t do that much wrong. In this Test, we couldn’t control the RR early on and the game went away from us. This is Test cricket, small mistakes can cost you but there’s many positives. Rather than focusing on the mistakes, we should look at the positives and build on them. There were more positives than negatives for us in this series.
“I only play Test cricket so there are often long gaps. When other teams work on you in the meantime then you realize on things you may need to change. In practice matches, I did well and scored. If you compare, in 2016 I was very side on and I opened myself a bit. This time, I opened myself even more in the last Test. This looks easy but it’s not easy to do during a match. I tried to correct it. In the 2nd Test, I had played a good number of balls and I felt confident but the pressure remained because of the lack of runs. You don’t feel comfort and you would have seen that in this innings.
“We have played lots of cricket without crowds in UAE. Besides Friday, there’s hardly any crowd there so we’re used to it. But with the rest of the squad and management there including the T20 squad, we had some support. Of course, we missed the fan who turn up in great numbers especially in England. We didn’t get to see that green crowd but I don’t think it affected our performances.”
