Why did Pakistan play for a draw in the 1st Test?

[Major]

What happened in the first innings, that could be slided.. pakistan playing test after a while and the batsmen getting in.

But the second innings has been ridiculous. Imam and shfiq started the innings well and could had given a ustralia a bait and for them to decide whether to go for the win or not.

Instead, such pathetic cricket is being witnessed by Babar Azams team that just in the third innings of a match with a lead they have decided to play for a draw?

Even 200 is a good target in 30 overs but the batsmen are now interested in getting their hundreds amd with no declaration at sight.

Poor captaincy by Babar, this wil lead him no where

 

[Babeikh]

I suppose we could have and maybe there was a 1 in a billion chance we could have won but would more than likely (nine hundred and ninety nine million nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine in a billion) have been utterly pointless.

This pitch has seen 14 wickets fall in nearly 5 days. We aren't going to randomly see 10 wickets fall in the last session. Better to keep our bowlers fresh for Karachi and hopefully a better pitch.

 

[boomboomcheema]

No miracle is going to happen, even one full day wouldn't be enough to dismiss Australia so let the openers get to their Tons and take the confidence into the next match . The series is not over yet .

 

[Rana]

I’m trying to give this management (who I don’t have the best opinion of) the benefit of the doubt, by thinking they are looking to mentally disintegrate the Australians by keeping them out their in the field. This would mean Australia have been in the field for close to 9 sessions out of 15, and have only taken 4 wickets (could get 1 or 2 more before close of play).

Coming to Pakistan after 24 years, and they probably hate being here without clearly showing it or saying it like Shane Warne used to just say it, this is definitely not going to be easy to recover from in 3 days.

I hope that’s what the plan is or maybe I am just giving them too much credit

 

[Rana]

I suppose we could have and maybe there was a 1 in a billion chance we could have won but would more than likely (nine hundred and ninety nine million nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine in a billion) have been utterly pointless.

This pitch has seen 14 wickets fall in nearly 5 days. We aren't going to randomly see 10 wickets fall in the last session. Better to keep our bowlers fresh for Karachi and hopefully a better pitch.

Pakistan will bring in two pacers whereas Australia will contemplate making any changes at all. Cameron Green has been there security which gives them the extra bowling option and a decent batsman to extend the order. If they want to bring in an extra spinner, either him or Head will be dropped.

 

[Hectic]

I’m trying to give this management (who I don’t have the best opinion of) the benefit of the doubt, by thinking they are looking to mentally disintegrate the Australians by keeping them out their in the field. This would mean Australia have been in the field for close to 9 sessions out of 15, and have only taken 4 wickets (could get 1 or 2 more before close of play).

Coming to Pakistan after 24 years, and they probably hate being here without clearly showing it or saying it like Shane Warne used to just say it, this is definitely not going to be easy to recover from in 3 days.

I hope that’s what the plan is or maybe I am just giving them too much credit

That’s definitely giving the management way too much credit. They can’t even get basic tactics right, never mind playing advanced mind games.

 

[Amjid Javed]

You could play on this wicket for 10 days and it would end up a draw.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

You could play on this wicket for 10 days and it would end up a draw.

Looks like Babar has every intention of doing this.

At least declare now.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I’m trying to give this management (who I don’t have the best opinion of) the benefit of the doubt, by thinking they are looking to mentally disintegrate the Australians by keeping them out their in the field. This would mean Australia have been in the field for close to 9 sessions out of 15, and have only taken 4 wickets (could get 1 or 2 more before close of play).

Coming to Pakistan after 24 years, and they probably hate being here without clearly showing it or saying it like Shane Warne used to just say it, this is definitely not going to be easy to recover from in 3 days.

I hope that’s what the plan is or maybe I am just giving them too much credit

This series will end Lyons career.

This match probably has already

 

[Xoib]

What happened in the first innings, that could be slided.. pakistan playing test after a while and the batsmen getting in.

But the second innings has been ridiculous. Imam and shfiq started the innings well and could had given a ustralia a bait and for them to decide whether to go for the win or not.

Instead, such pathetic cricket is being witnessed by Babar Azams team that just in the third innings of a match with a lead they have decided to play for a draw?

Even 200 is a good target in 30 overs but the batsmen are now interested in getting their hundreds amd with no declaration at sight.

Poor captaincy by Babar, this wil lead him no where

Better to keep bowlers especially Shaheen fresh for next 2 tests.

 

[Dr Khan]

This is a horrible advert of promoting test cricket in Pakistan.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

What happened in the first innings, that could be slided.. pakistan playing test after a while and the batsmen getting in.

But the second innings has been ridiculous. Imam and shfiq started the innings well and could had given a ustralia a bait and for them to decide whether to go for the win or not.

Instead, such pathetic cricket is being witnessed by Babar Azams team that just in the third innings of a match with a lead they have decided to play for a draw?

Even 200 is a good target in 30 overs but the batsmen are now interested in getting their hundreds amd with no declaration at sight.

Poor captaincy by Babar, this wil lead him no where

You are forgetting it again.

Why do you think Misbah would’ve done anything different?

During his captaincy and his coaching years, he has injected this poison of cowardice, deeply into our batting culture.

We need an anti venom to choke this Misbahism from our batting mindset.

 

[Sunny_majoka]

At least they should have tried

 

[sweep_shot]

Their approach was negative from day 1. It seemed like they were more into avoiding loss than trying to win it.

 

[PakPremi]

The only way they could have tempted Austrlia to go for target was by making it fairly gettable with attacking cricket and reasonable overs remaining. In that case Australia would had gone for it, they have very good top order, so more than likely Pakistan would had lost the match on this very flat wicket that was not offering anything even on day 5. No need for fake bravado risking an unnecessary defeat.

 

[tired1]

200 in 30 overs is doable at any time of the year.

 

[light]

A bit harshe of a judgement don't you think? The match was pretty much heading to a draw the moment 4th day finished. It was highly highly unlikely that Pak would bowl out aus with let's say 200 to chase from 30 overs. Not to mention, with so many t20 games being played these days, batsmen plays with a different set of mind nowdays.

 

[hitthestump]

This is a horrible advert of promoting test cricket in Pakistan.

Absolutely. Terrible pitch, bang average bowling and no intent to cause a result whatsoever.

Let's hope for a more sporting wicket next time around and garbage like Naseem Shah to be nowhere near the field.

 

[Major]

You are forgetting it again.

Why do you think Misbah would’ve done anything different?

During his captaincy and his coaching years, he has injected this poison of cowardice, deeply into our batting culture.

We need an anti venom to choke this Misbahism from our batting mindset.

Under Misbah we did two chases on day5 and many times decalred to bowl opposition out

 

[Major]

It seems as if fans would never allow Babar Azam to be critisized.... Doenst matter what the pitch was, if 200 target is given for 20 overs, you rely on the opposition to go after the chase and make mistakes

 

[Caved12]

Major is spot on. Pathetic captaincy by Babar.

 

[Saj]

It's clearly a case of a fear of losing the 1st match of the series and to negate the Aussie pace attack.

Yes it's frustrating as fans but they go into the series level with 2 to go rather than 1-0 down is probably the way they are looking at it.

 

[Amjid Javed]

It's clearly a case of a fear of losing the 1st match of the series and to negate the Aussie pace attack.

Yes it's frustrating as fans but they go into the series level with 2 to go rather than 1-0 down is probably the way they are looking at it.

Looks like as Soon as Hasan/rauf/fahim were injured the team management bottled it and asked for a flat wicket. Also go slow with bat was almost a time waste measure as they had no faith in taking 20 Aussie wickets.

lets hope that poor attitude changes at karachi.

 

[shamaan]

It seems as if fans would never allow Babar Azam to be critisized.... Doenst matter what the pitch was, if 200 target is given for 20 overs, you rely on the opposition to go after the chase and make mistakes

They were never going to win this game or even have a chance the only outcome would have been if one of the bowlers got injured.

 

[shamaan]

Thiers no way any team could have won that game in the first test and rightly so that they didn't give 20 bowlers to bowl at Australia.

 

[shamaan]

A bit harshe of a judgement don't you think? The match was pretty much heading to a draw the moment 4th day finished. It was highly highly unlikely that Pak would bowl out aus with let's say 200 to chase from 30 overs. Not to mention, with so many t20 games being played these days, batsmen plays with a different set of mind nowdays.

I agree with your statement only thing that could happen is injuries so right call by management.

 

[giri26]

Absolutely poor pitch, don't think they would have been able to dismiss any team in 1.5 sessions on that surface. So they decided to bat through. More than 1100 runs for just 14 wickets means that there was no chance of a result. Pakistan lost no wickets on a day 5 surface, enough said.

 

[Saj]

Looks like as Soon as Hasan/rauf/fahim were injured the team management bottled it and asked for a flat wicket. Also go slow with bat was almost a time waste measure as they had no faith in taking 20 Aussie wickets.

lets hope that poor attitude changes at karachi.

Yes, injuries, the quality of the opposition pacers and the hope that Pakistan's spinners might perform, mean that it was a safety-first policy from Pakistan.

I just hope they are a bit more brave in the next 2 matches.

 

[dildilpak]

Agree with Major here, there was absolutely no intention to win the match - with the pitch as well as the strategies. The team could have scored at a faster clip in the first innings even if that meant losing wickets in the process & could have set an aggressive target in the 2nd innings to try force a result. Instead it looked like the batsmen were more interested in playing for personal records. What a waste of an opportunity!

 

[Concerned]

This was a draw so in 10 years time Babar can talk about drawing against the number 1 ranked test team in the world.

 

[Snowflake]

That’s definitely giving the management way too much credit. They can’t even get basic tactics right, never mind playing advanced mind games.

Well said. Most of us do not know even know how clueless this management is. Unfortunately, we have a bunch of folks in the management that was never known for their cricketing acumen. I do not think we can identify one person in the management who reads the game well.

As for answering OP, I think strategy comes from the top. Babar is a dud captain and we all know it. He does not have any original thought or insight and basically operates based on predetermined plans.

His poor leadership will be on exposed in the test format where strategy takes center stage; in the LOIs he'd do fine.

 

[Snowflake]

Agree with Major here, there was absolutely no intention to win the match - with the pitch as well as the strategies. The team could have scored at a faster clip in the first innings even if that meant losing wickets in the process & could have set an aggressive target in the 2nd innings to try force a result. Instead it looked like the batsmen were more interested in playing for personal records. What a waste of an opportunity!

Batsmen will never go against team strategy. If the captain sets the strategy, e.g. number of runs per session, how can a batsman go against that?

Babar provides zero guidance in such scenarios, so batsmen play the way it suits them.

 

[Cric1234]

The cringeworthy celebration of the hundred milestone when there was no chance of a win tells a story its fine for Abdullah but Imam he’s already scored one the idea should've be to play T20 type cricket after lunch to make Australia bat again.

None of that Babar is applauding hundreds against part time spinners as something special the whole mentality is minnow level and that’s why Pakistan will remain a low ranked team for a long time.

 

[iniqbal223]

I’m trying to give this management (who I don’t have the best opinion of) the benefit of the doubt, by thinking they are looking to mentally disintegrate the Australians by keeping them out their in the field. This would mean Australia have been in the field for close to 9 sessions out of 15, and have only taken 4 wickets (could get 1 or 2 more before close of play).

Coming to Pakistan after 24 years, and they probably hate being here without clearly showing it or saying it like Shane Warne used to just say it, this is definitely not going to be easy to recover from in 3 days.

I hope that’s what the plan is or maybe I am just giving them too much credit

This will be counter productive ; Australia has not played any warm up game leading to this test series
Giving them more opportunities to be on the field will only make things worse for us

 

[Major]

Absolutely poor pitch, don't think they would have been able to dismiss any team in 1.5 sessions on that surface. So they decided to bat through. More than 1100 runs for just 14 wickets means that there was no chance of a result. Pakistan lost no wickets on a day 5 surface, enough said.

With a required rr being 8+ and no field restrictions, anything could have happened. Point is, babar never took his chances by not even asking australia to even bat.

The most useless 100 i have ever seen by the two batsmen.

If this was misbah or azhar ali, fans would had been goinf crazy, but ts babar so he will be shielded from the criticism. Blame the pitch but not babars intent

 

[adzzy786]

There was no chance we could have bowled Australia out in one session. The slow batting for 2 days cost us crucial time. Didn’t help the pitch was like a road

 

[Zaz]

There was no chance of a result

I mean pakistan lost only 4 wkts for 700 odd its that flat

Yes they couldve declared and gave em 30 overs but your unlikely to bowl them out in 30 overs but aus certainly couldvr won the game in 30 overs so better not giving them a sniff

Best tactic was to grind the aussie bowlers n move onto next game

Hopefully the wkts are better going forward