Stop being overawed by South Africa: Inzamam tells Pakistan
Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq feels Pakistan were psychologically under pressure against South Africa and advised the national team players to stop being overawed by the world`s number one Test team.
|Last Updated: Feb 19, 2013, 10:34 AM IST|Source: Bureau
Karachi: Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq feels Pakistan were psychologically under pressure against South Africa and advised the national team players to stop being overawed by the world`s number one Test team.
"I firmly believe we were psychologically under pressure from South Africa since the start of the series. You look at the batting strike rate of our players and you can see they never tried to dominate the South African bowlers even after settling down which was the key to success in this series," Inzamam said yesterday from Lahore.
South Africa, the number one ranked team in Test cricket, took a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match Test series on Sunday after defeating Pakistan by four wickets in the second Test at Capetown.
Inzamam, who was due to be in South Africa with the team as batting consultant, said he would have advised the players to play positively against the South African bowlers.
"It is true that our pace attack was not of the same quality that we had when we won tests in South Africa in 1998 or 2007 but still our batsmen needed to show a more proactive approach," he said.
Inzamam, considered one of the batting greats in Pakistan cricket, said it was obvious on the field that Pakistani players were overawed by their opponents and under pressure because of their world number one status.
"We should have won the second Test. We had them on the mat in the first innings but a couple of bad decisions let them off the hook. Our batsmen than batted passively in the second innings when there was a need to play attacking cricket and put them under more pressure," Inzamam noted.
The former captain admitted that South Africa`s bowling attack was one of the best in the world but not unplayable.
"Once Younis and Asad Shafiq scored centuries in the first innings I thought the remaining batsmen would take a lead from that," he added.
Pakistan lost the first Test in Johannesburg by 211 runs after crumbling to 49 all out in the first innings in the face of the hosts` hostile pace bowling attack
Inzamam, who hit an unbeaten 92 in Pakistan`s last Test win in South Africa in 2007, said that the scoring rate of the Pakistani batsmen was a big concern.
"On the third day last session our batsmen scored at just two runs per over when we should have been going after their bowling. You look at their batting they kept on scoring at around four per over all the time to put our bowling under pressure," he said.
Inzamam said he was always available to help the Pakistan team and if the board asked him again to work with the players he would definitely give it a thought.
"After the Indian tour I don`t know but the board didn`t talk to me about going to South Africa as batting consultant," he said.
Pakistan`s former captain, Moin Khan said that the national team needed to play positive cricket not only on the field but in their minds.
"You can only beat a top side if you believe you can do it. I thought we had the second test in the bag but we didn`t go for the kill when required," he said.
PTI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.