Azhar Ali; HOME CRICKET NEWS The defeats in Australia have hurt our cricket pride

In the wake of the dismal performance on the tour of Australia, Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali has said that the series loss is unacceptable and it has hurt the pride of Pakistan cricket. Australia thoroughly outplayed the beleaguered Pakistan side to sweep the two-match series. The visitors, in fact, never looked like challenging the hosts let alone beating them.

Azhar Ali & Co. arrived in Australia with new hope as they had a new captain, new-look side and a new head coach. Having lost their last 12 Tests on the Australia soil, Pakistan had a mountain to climb. But by the time the series ended, it was the same old story as Australia blew the visitors away. They inflicted innings defeat on the Azhar Ali-led side in both the games.

The 2-0 loss meant Pakistan’s are yet to open their account in the ongoing inaugural World Test Championship. And as the team gear up for their next assignment, the Test series at home against Sri Lanka, Azhar expressed his disappointment over the losses in Australia.

“It is very disappointing how we lost the two Tests. The defeats in Australia have hurt our cricket pride and it is hard to accept. We had gone there with all the right preparations and with a positive mindset. So the two innings defeat is not acceptable and I will offer no excuses for this,” Azhar told reporters in Lahore.

Failure to execute plans:
Azhar Ali insisted his team had prepared well for the series but it failed to properly execute the plans. He rued the team’s failure to execute the plans and also singled out David Warner for making the difference. Warner scored 154 and 335 not out in the two Tests, helping his side dominate proceedings in the series throughout.

“We didn’t get wickets with the new ball, we didn’t forge big partnerships, we didn’t build on good starts and our plans against David Warner also didn’t work as he countered them well,” he said. “The truth is we were doing catch up game in both Tests and once you get behind in Australia it is very difficult to catch up in Tests,” Azhar added.

He further made it clear that he was under no pressure because of his run of poor form. At the same time, he also made it clear that poor form will always see a player lose his spot in the team irrespective of whether he is the captain or not.

“I accepted the captaincy after much thought and I know what I want. I am under no pressure right now neither I am thinking about what will happen or about losing the captaincy. But it is a fact that whether you are captain or player if you don’t perform you can’t expect to be in the team,” he signed off.