Pakistan made the same mistake that they have been doing since partition: Shoaib Akhtar

Pakistan’s veteran cricketer Shoaib Akhtar thrashed the Pakistan Test team for their loss against England in the inaugural match of the three-match Test Series. He blamed the Pakistani batsmen for their inept batting and non-aggressive approach towards winning.

In the Test match at Manchester, the Men in Green were in a strong position with putting up a decent score of 326 onboard and getting England all out at 219 at the end of the first innings. However, the batsmen couldn’t capitalize on the 107-run lead and could only add 169 runs to the total. Owing to the brilliant partnership of 139 runs by Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes in the second innings, the hosts tasted victory by three wickets.

Analyzing the reasons for his country’s defeat in the Test at Old Trafford on his YouTube channel, the Rawalpindi Express said that the reckless shots by the batsmen and the inability of forming partnerships on the crease are one of the prime reasons of Pakistan’s defeat since partition.

“Pakistan got an opportunity to put a big score but they made the same mistake that they have been doing since partition. That the batting lets us down. We needed partnerships, stroke-making only when you get loose balls. It was a great chance for Pakistan to put 350-400 runs on the board,” Akhtar reckoned.

Babar Azam has to come out with something good: Shoaib Akhtar

Further in the video, Shoaib opined that there is no point in having great batsmen in the team if they can’t prove to be match-winners. The speedster didn’t shy away from expressing his sadness and anger over the team’s batting line-up for not capitalizing the massive lead they got in the first innings.

“But again, none of Pakistan’s star batsmen could score runs. If you have to become a big player and earn a name, these are the situations. If you are not able to capitalize on a 107-run lead, however big a batsman you may be, you are of no use.” said the 44-year-old.

Shan Masood and Babar Azam are two stars of the Pakistan team from whom many people had high hopes. It was due to a brilliant knock of 156 runs by Masood that Pakistan could take an edge over Englishmen after the first innings. Babar had also made a contribution of 69 runs in the team’s total.

However, both the batsmen had failed to do any wonders in the second innings. While Masood got out on a duck, Babar could score only 5 runs. Talking about the same, Akhtar acknowledged that Shan was unlucky during the second innings. Subsequently, he asked Babar to prove his mettle as a match-winner in such circumstances.

“Shan Masood was unlucky but he had already played his part. Asad Shafiq got run out, it is again his fault. But Babar Azam has to come out with something good, because you cannot create a name like this. You might be a good player, but you have to establish yourself as a match-winner.” said Shoaib.

“If lead had not been there, then we were dismissed for just 150-175. You have to think what you have to do as a batsman, this is really disappointing,” he concluded.

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