Pakistan captain Babar Azam wasn’t the one to mince words as his team suffered an unexpected defeat at the hands of West Indies in the first Test on Tuesday.
Babar emerged as Pakistan’s lone warrior, scoring an unbeaten 58 off 107 balls but didn’t find a single teammate stepping up in the second innings. The second highest score for a Pakistan batter in the second innings was 23 by No. 11 batter Mohammad Abbas. Speaking in the post-match presentation ceremony, Babar spoke honestly about the collapse and tore into his batting unit.
Babar, the newly appointed Pakistan skipper, was utterly disappointed by his fellow batters’ effort.
“Yes, the result wasn’t in our hands, but over the last two days we played some good cricket. Today, though, as a batting unit, we weren’t up to the mark. We kept losing wickets back-to-back and the batting failed,” Babar said after the match.
When asked if the wicket played a role in the 4th innings, Babar said: “The surface was good. We expected some movement with the new ball because that’s natural here, and we were prepared for that. But I think they bowled very well and used the conditions brilliantly. By the fourth day the ball was keeping a bit low and bouncing unevenly. We weren’t able to build partnerships, and that’s why we lost,” he said.
Pakistan’s former captain Shan Masood came out to bat at the No. 8 spot despite fracturing his finger. He scored 3 runs off 15 balls before being dismissed. Babar said that Masood’s injury was a factor in Pakistan’s defeat.
“Yes, it affected us because unfortunately his finger isn’t in good condition. It’s fractured, so we definitely missed him. But at the same time, when you’re facing the new ball you have to survive the first 20 overs, build partnerships, and then as the ball gets older the pitch becomes easier to bat on. We couldn’t put together those partnerships,” he said.
With Pakistan struggling to win Tests away from home, Babar admitted that there’s a need to sit in the dressing room and address mistakes.
“Yeah, we will sit together and discuss these things because while the result isn’t in our hands, we can certainly address our mistakes. We will do our best to change those things,” he concluded.