Follow UsPakistan skipper Babar Azam, ahead of the second Test in Karachi, has rubbished claims that the hosts prepared a flat wicket to negate Australia’s threat, and has asserted that his side are not ‘frightened’ of the Aussies. A benign wicket in Rawalpindi saw bat dominate proceedings, with just 14 wickets falling in the entire game across 5 days, but Babar believes that his side could potentially have pushed for a result if not for rain.
According to the Pakistan skipper, the hosts ‘dominated’ the first Test in which they scored 728 runs for the loss of 4 wickets, and bowled Australia out for 459.
"We're not frightened of Australia. The conditions are the same for both teams, and the World Test Championship points are very crucial. As a captain, I wanted us to win,” Babar said ahead of the second Test, reported ESPN Cricinfo.
“The way our side dominated, we had batters score 150-plus and [bowlers] get wickets. So there's nothing to panic about. We dominated. We didn't get a result, unfortunately, but that's not in our hands. If all the overs that were lost due to rain were played, maybe we'd have a different result."
Much has been spoken about the Rawalpindi wicket, which was rated ‘below-average’ by the ICC, but Babar defended the conditions, insisting that teams ‘must put in the effort to score runs and take wickets’ regardless of the conditions.
"The conditions here are not as they are in Australia. Every venue has different conditions that we utilise. You can't just produce bouncy wickets or 'Australia-style' wickets; that's not possible. We'll go by our strength and try and win the match that way. Test match situations and pitches are different to ODIs; matches have to last five days. Later on, the spinners will get help.
"The pitch looks like a sporting wicket. There's lots of talk about how the pitch should have been. Whatever the kind of wicket, you must put in the effort to score runs and take wickets. In Australia, we have the world's best team here, and performing against them is very difficult; they give you a tough time. The way the team performed and worked hard has been heartening. You need patience, and I think our side showed a lot of patience."
Queensland’s Mitch Swepson will be making his Test debut in Karachi, and Babar admitted that he and his teammates haven’t seen much of the leggie, who has been one of the standout bowlers in the Sheffield Shield in the past couple of seasons. The Pakistan skipper further stressed that it would be imperative for the hosts to carry the momentum they generated in the first game, into the second Test in Karachi.
"I haven't seen much of him (Swepson)," Babar said.
"We'll watch videos of him and plan accordingly. We've started practice here; it's quite hot and the conditions are different.
“We have momentum with us; we dominated the first Test and had great individual and team performances. The batters batted well, the bowlers took ten wickets, and Nauman six. The overall team performance was good and we're trying to take that momentum into this game."