Picture Credit: Twitter
Pakistan lost the first match of the three-match Test series against England as the Babar Azam-led team could not chase 343 in the fourth innings. Pakistan got bundled out for 248 as their batters found it tough to face the likes of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson. The Men in Green lost their last five wickets for nine runs, handing England a historic win.
While a lot of runs were scored in the first innings by both teams, Pakistan found it hard to score at the same rate as England in their second innings. Imam-ul-Haq (48), Azhar Ali (40), Saud Shakeel (76), Agha Salman (30) and Mohammad Rizwan (46) did try to an extent but England did not allow these four to make it troublesome. In the end, it was win for the Ben Stokes-led team by 74 runs.
While Stokes was all praise for his team, Pakistan captain Babar Azam blamed the Rawalpindi pitch for the loss. Babar said that they did not get the desired pitch and hence it was tough for them to stop England's batters. The Pakistan captain said that they expected some turn from the track but it was too flat to create any problems for the opposition.
“Dekhe, kafi input tha . Humne jo plan kiya tha, jo chaha rahe the, aise pitch hume mili nehi. Aur jo humare plans they waise execute ho nehi paye unfortunately. Hum thoda turning side pe jaa rahe the. Waise plan tha humara. But unfortunately weather ke wajah se aur thoda preparation ke wajah se waise wicket ban nehi paye.
English Translation: I gave a lot of inputs. The way we planned, the pitch we wanted, we didn't get as per planned. We wanted a turning track and our plans were based on that. But whether it was because of the weather or was it prepared that way, we didn't get as per planed),” he said.