PAK vs AUS 2022: Babar Azam Satisfied With Pakistan's Performance In 1st Test, Says They Dominated Their Opponents

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam put the pitch drama aside and stated that his team dominated Australia for most parts of the first Test at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

The match may have ended in a dull draw with both teams struggling to take wickets. Although Pakistan did bundle out the Aussies, they conceded 459 in return. As for the hosts, they lost only four wickets across two innings and racked up a total of 728 runs on the board.

“(On whether Pakistan dominated Australia) Definitely, I think the way we dominated and we also picked up their 10 wickets. We also scored hundreds with Abdullah Shafique batting maturely and Imam scoring back-to-back tons. Our senior pro, Azhar Ali also batted well and we got a lot of momentum which we will take into the next Test,” Babar said in the press conference ahead of the second Test.

The surface that was prepared was extremely one-sided and the bowlers barely had a say. The Aussies tried their best to restrict the batting might of the hosts and they were able to do so to an extent. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough to produce a result in the end.

“I think you need to look at the opponent as well. All four of their bowlers are high on confidence and the way our batters dominated them, they also took the run-rate to 4-4.5. You cannot dominate every session. When opposition dominates, you need to absorb pressure and not lose wickets,” Babar further added.

The pitch came under heavy criticism and the ICC rated it as ‘below average’, giving it one demerit point. The fans and the cricketers will be hoping for a better surface for the second Test in Karachi.

Pakistan Test squad for Australia series:

Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, and Zahid Mahmood.

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