Former Pakistan cricket team captain Inzamam-ul-Haq reckons that Pakistan can turn things around and can still win the three-match Test series against England.
Pakistan’s defeat against the host team England at Old Trafford, Manchester on Sunday in the inaugural match has raised many questions on the team management and the competence of players. The former sure started it with a power-packed performance but it all went downhill by the third day as England took dominance over the match.
Although disappointed by their defeat, Inzamam said that he believes the Pakistan team has got more potential and can emerge as winners at the end of the series.
Inzamam said, “I think Pakistan team is better than England and we should have won the first Test. It’s very disappointing but I believe Pakistan can still win the series.”
“When you are going through a tough phase, the team’s body language should not change. This was clearly the case in the first Test because Pakistan players seemed under pressure after the second innings batting collapse on the third day,” he added.
He mentioned the importance of team management after losing a game in which the team had the upper hand.
“The role of the team management is vital after such a defeat because the players’ morale will be down. They need to talk about the positives, like scoring 300 plus runs and the first innings lead, rather than focusing on the negatives,” Inzamam said from his official YouTube Channel.
Pakistan team started with a bang and scored 326 in the first innings. Opening batsman Shan Masood played a terrific inning of 156 runs, which is now also his career-best to date. While chasing, the England team couldn’t do much but collapsed at 219 runs. The Pakistani blowers did a great job which led the team to take a lead of 107 runs.
Despite that, the visitors succumbed to pressure as they got all out at 169 runs in just 46.4 overs in the second innings. Even after being at 117-5 on the fourth day, the hosts tasted success owing to the 139-run partnership between Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler. Woakes’ unbeaten 84 and Buttler’s knock of 75 runs helped England register an unlikely victory over Pakistan.
