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Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali says he did really feel strain when he was struggling to attain runs within the misplaced collection in opposition to England however the thought of quitting captaincy by no means crossed his thoughts. Pakistan misplaced the three-Test collection 0-1 as the ultimate Test additionally resulted in a draw on Tuesday after the 2 groups performed out a draw within the second recreation in Southampton.
Azhar confronted criticism for his run drought earlier than scoring 100 within the first innings of the third Test.
“No, I remained focussed on this series. This consideration never entered my mind. Yes there was pressure but I was focussed on my performances,” he informed reporters when requested if he wished to give up as captain through the collection.
“After we lost the first Test, as captain I had to bear the pressure and criticism. But I vowed to turn it around with my performances and the amount of experience we had in our team management also helped us get over the first test defeat and move on.” England gained their first Test collection in opposition to Pakistan since 2010.
“We are disappointed at not being able to win the series. We came here to not only draw the series but to win it. We got our opportunity but missed it. Credit also goes to England; they took advantage of opportunities,” he mentioned.
England, chasing 277 runs to win the primary Test, had been 117 for 5 earlier than Jos Butler and Chris Woakes rallied them round and took them to an sudden victory.
Azhar conceded that when one loses a match from a robust place the the dressing room ambiance turns into tough for a staff to rally again.
“Teams fall apart but the good thing is this didn’t happen to us and we remained as a group and fought back in the next Test,” he added.
Azhar mentioned he has all the time revered the opinion of former gamers and analysts and takes criticism on his chin.
“As captain only I know what is the situation on the field, what is going on in the mind of the bowlers, what the bowler is thinking, things that people sitting outside don’t know. “Everyone has their opinion and I respect them but as captain you know that in certain circumstances you couldn’t have done that. But I give value to everyone’s opinion but it is true it is different for people who are on the spot and taking decisions.” “On the spot as captain you assess and take decisions according to match conditions and according to the condition and mental state of players.” Azhar additionally conceded that he had made a slight change to his stance to get again into type within the third take a look at however mentioned it’s by no means straightforward to depart consolation zone throughout a collection.
“When a player has runs under his belt he has a comfort level, but when the opposition has worked on you, it not easy to make changes to your technique in a series. In 2016 also I faced problems in England. But I modified my stance and it worked for me.” Azhar additionally backed Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam.
“Asad didn’t have a good series but we will continue to back him as he had two good series previous to coming to England. Babar batted with authority in the series and I think you can’t expect a batsman to score big runs all the time. Sometimes you need patience but he is an example for us.” He did concede that younger quick bowler, Naseem Shah wanted to achieve extra expertise and be taught extra as he didn’t stay unto expectations within the collection.
“He has pace and I thought he bowled against top players like Joe Root and Ben Stokes and he would have learnt and I hope he keeps on improving.”
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