Pakistan batsmen playing for themselves rather than for the team: Makhaya Ntini

The ongoing Pakistan tour of South Africa can be described as a horrendous one for the visiting team. Pakistan have been bowled out under 200 in four out of the five occasions. The batsmen have failed to display any kind of intent throughout the series. Leaving Babar Azam and Shan Masood to some extent, the rest of the batting lineup has fallen like a pack of cards.

While the Sarfaraz Ahmed led team is already down by 2-0 in the series, even the third Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg is heading towards a possible Proteas win. This would be the second consecutive time that Pakistan will be whitewashed by South Africa at home. Misbah-ul-Haq was the skipper back then when Sarfaraz was only playing his second Test series.

Pakistani are ranked sixth in Test cricket

Makhaya Ntini accused the Pakistani batsmen of not coming together as a unit. The former South African pacer asserted that they were indeed trying to save their spots in the team. So far in the series, none of the Pakistani batsmen has scored a hundred. At Cape Town, Asad Shafiq came close as he registered a score of 88.

“The Pakistani batsmen are playing for themselves instead of playing for the team. They know that if they score 50 they will still be in the team and can’t be dropped because they scored 50 instead of thinking where can they take the team,” Makhaya Ntini was quoted as saying in Pak Passion

Over the last two years, Pakistan have had the lowest conversion rate when it comes to transforming 50s into 100s. Even a low ranked Bangladesh side has had better. India, on the other hand, enjoy a 38% conversion rate and top the tables. Currently, Pakistan are placed at the sixth position in the ICC rankings and are just one rating point ahead of Sri Lanka who are seventh.

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