KARACHI: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is discouraged by the team’s winless home campaign but won’t put the blame for their poor run on player injuries or unresponsive pitches.
After a 3-0 rout at the hands of England last month, Pakistan twice came back from the verge of defeat to force a 0-0 tie in the two-Test series against New Zealand.
The fact that they have now lost eight consecutive home tests has ended their chances of competing in the World Test Championship final, and Babar acknowledged that he had not anticipated the season to proceed in this direction.
After Pakistan narrowly averted losing a third straight home series, Babar said at a news conference that “the Test season hasn’t gone according to expectations.”
“Some of our players were out of shape, which disrupted our combination, but that’s not an excuse.”
Their bowling squad took a hit in particular.
Shaheen Afridi, a leader in pace, is still out with a knee ailment, and fellow quicks Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah missed much of the series against England due to aches and pains.
Babar claimed that the too-batter-friendly pitches utilised in the series against England and New Zealand did not help their case either.
“Of course, the pitches are discussed, but each venue’s circumstances vary.
“We offer our opinions on pitches, but ultimately you must carry out your plans after receiving the pitches you do. You can’t just whine that the pitch caused you to lose a game.
Despite our planned to prepare them that way, things didn’t work out as we had hoped.
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