Without one main batter Pakistan made a good game of it

[MenInG]

Of course we are all upset about the 2nd Test but one thing you cannot doubt is the fighting spirit shown by the side.

There is a lot to hope for in the next WTC cycle.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

They fought hard, don't know how handy would have been Saim's contribution

 

[Fazzy321]

Fighting spirit ye fighting spirit wo. Tired of these moral victories

 

[saimayubera]

Blessings in disguise which will come in handy until the next blessings in disguise.

 

[Devadwal]

Sorry but what is good game ?

Losing the test almost with an innings or 10 wickets inside the 4 days?

 

[YousafTheBeast]

No, Pakistan showed how rubbish they are.

Only Pakistan could concede 600+ and then get bowled out for less than 200 in their 1st innings.

 

[RidiculousMan]

This was proper thrashing. It took Pakistan two innings to match SAF score

 

[Buffet]

@MenInG :

I think Pakistan batted poorly in first inning on good batting surface and batted very well second time. As you said, one top order batsman was missing so that's surely a factor.

Over all, not a bad game when many were predicting Pakistan to get bowled out for 250 runs in second inning as well. Anytime, a batting side crosses 450 runs when batting away it's a good effort no matter the surface. Pakistan did it with one player missing so fans should keep that in mind.

Posters may point out SA batting on the same surface, but SA is batting in their home conditions. Much easier to do well in your home as a bowler and batsman both. It was a very good effort by Pakistan to score 475+ here in second inning with one batsman missing.

In first test, Pakistani had almost won it. Not much to separate SA and Pakistan in the first test.

I would say lots of positive for Pakistani in this series. 0-2 loss does not capture the performance by Pakistan.

 

[Savak]

The selectors need to be on the dock for selecting 3 military's medium pacers for South African conditions.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

This isn't making a game. We were well and truly hammered.

 

[sweep_shot]

Yes. Their 2nd innings batting was top class.

Scoring close to 500 without a main batter.

Impressive.

 

[jnaveen1980]

As much as the batting lost a player their bowling is still lacking world class quality.

 

[Extra_Cover]

As pointed out earlier by @Savak the game was lost when we had 3 frontline pacers bowling at 125k. At best a military medium pacer can be employed to restrict scoring but no way a military medium pacer can break through batting line-ups. Also to note we had likes of Naseem, Shaheen, Muhammad Ali, etc sitting on bench or in Pakistan who are easily 135k bowlers and would have provided much better penetration.

Going forward in SENA conditions we need only 1 military medium whilst other 2 pacers should easily bowl over 135k

 

[gibsyhesperis]

Whilst it wasn't a total capitulation (which it did look like being at one stage), they have been beaten by ten wickets on a flat pitch to a pretty average SA team.
Showed some spine in the second innings but the first innings was desperate.

 

[shaz619]

We made a good game of it; what are we Kenya now ?

 

[gazza619]

Sorry but what is good game ?

Losing the test almost with an innings or 10 wickets inside the 4 days?

For Pakistan it was a good fight. We are still a mid tier team overall and our pace attack is minnow level to say the least.

I am just worried that we will have to bear Shan for 2 more years and this is not great news.

 

[RidiculousMan]

For over a decade now we here a lot of this notion from Pakistani fans during a difficult game or a after a lose. That 'Oh Pakistan at least fought well'. This has contributed to the let down of the Team as fans have lowered their standards.

I believe this mentality is one of the primary reasons why Pakistani team have been unable to win a series in SENA for so long now and they struggle to hold on to even a single game in either Australia or South Africa.

This fighting spirit is useless to me if I don't see a W in the historical stats column for the team. Every time they go tour for a difficult series and it's again the same drama. Under-prepared, bad match awareness, bad tactical decisions and it puts the team into yet another impossible position from which few individuals play when the pressure off the boil and then the fans sigh in relief that at least the Team fought.

Here I will have to give credit to Mohammad Rizwan as ODI captain that he played to crush the opposition and win. After the first lose against Australia. Fans were quite satisfied that at least we fought, it was cummins that played special knock. The fans would have taken the humble series lose like all times. But Rizwan lead his players to give them a proper thrashing and continued this on to whitewash South Africa in South Africa for the first time ever.

That's the Ws we fans should look for, not for these useless fights that end up in Ls. If Pakistan Cricket has to rise. Pakistani fans have to drop this 'team fought well', 'boys played well', mentality.

 

[MenInG]

We made a good game of it; what are we Kenya now ?

With one main batter not able to bat in 2 innings. Think about it.

Remove SA's double centurion and tell me

 

[Hellion]

A great moral series victory for Pakistan under Shan. Will never be forgotten

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

They put up a remarkable fight in the second innings. That has to be acknowledged. You're being too cynical if you are unwilling to acknowledge that.

But at the same time we should also acknowledge that we have a one-dimensional and toothless pace-attack that will not win us matches in SENA 9/10 times.

 

[shaz619]

With one main batter not able to bat in 2 innings. Think about it.

Remove SA's double centurion and tell me

I don’t think Saim is responsible for the diabolical batting in the 1st innings, and there was yet to salvage something more, the conditions were good, if they gave SA about 150 to chase I would be in agreement with you. But Pakistan & their fans have very low standards, the mindset needs a complete overhaul or you will continue you to do poorly in SENA. Expect more, not less, the country has a rich sporting legacy & heritage which is being tarnished by mediocrity, weak characters and player politics. This is Pakistan and not Kenya or any other minnow, I don’t think Bangladesh fans celebrated their recent Test series win over Pak as hard as we are over these so called moral victories.

 

[shaz619]

However, you can give Shan credit for showing some balls and going out on his shield. This fight back was orchestrated by one man alone, the rest don’t have a foot to stand on, he never really got the support he needed from his mates; I would be careful not to give the whole team the credit be earned himself.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

Maybe it's just me but the cupboard where I keep my moral trophies is overflowing. This year is just six days in & I've already gotten another one. Looking at all this shining glistening gleaming moral silverware is going to hurt my retinas one day.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

If Saim had been there it could have been a different game as a lead anywhere near 200 would have been difficult to chase on day 5.

 

[mominsaigol]

It was a great fight in the 2nd innings. Horrible 1st innings though

 

[Farabi]

Pakistan’s current strategy of backing domestic performers is starting to improve outcomes.
1. The batting is starting to click. It’s no longer Babar or bust.
2. The bowling nearly won us a couple of test matches in SA and Aus. The batting didn’t click in those games. They should stick with this bowling unit and substitute maybe 1 bowler who is quicker BUT ONLY if they have control and variation. Musa did well in FC and should be in contention. Shaheen Shah is another guy with his height offers a different challenge: Otherwise, just stick with this lot.
3. Nauman Ali/specialist spinner should play every single test match.
4. Not convinced by Amir Jamal at no8. He should bat at no7. We need 4 specialist bowlers.

 

[Usman]

Maybe it's just me but the cupboard where I keep my moral trophies is overflowing. This year is just six days in & I've already gotten another one. Looking at all this shining glistening gleaming moral silverware is going to hurt my retinas one day.

This made me chuckle!

Ok, to all the upset fans, here’s what I would say. You’re all right that Pakistani bowling was utterly toothless and never again should we field military medium. The fact that Shaheen wasn’t picked for this series, when he was in red hot form, is a scandal in itself. Haris Rauf also should be in contention. On this pitch, we shouldn’t have dropped Naseem Shah - If Humza had to play, then he probably should have played on the last pitch rather than this one.

Our first innings batting was complete rubbish. Every wicket was thrown away and gifted on a platter to SA.

However, whilst I am obviously disappointed by the loss, I would have been even more upset and visibly angry if the boys had just repeated their first innings debacle in the second innings. That would have been completely unforgivable.

In this second innings, thanks to Shan and to some extent Babar, the boys fought and fought hard. For that I give them a lot of credit. Yes they should have never been in such a terrible situation but, once there, they could have just given up because we all expected them to. But they didn’t. They showed they do actually care about wearing the National colours.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Pakistan should have won the 1st test match but it was a good overall fight in the 2nd game without their main batter who was in form (saim). Had he been there, things could have been different, who knows.