Inzamam-Ul-Haq Says Pakistani Batsmen Played With Defensive Approach

The Chief selector Pakistan Cricket Board Inzamam-ul-Haq has opened up about his views over losing first test match against New Zealand in Christchurch last week saying that Pakistani players particularly batsmen should have performed by carrying a positive approach rather than playing in defensive mode in the second innings of first test match. He said our team blocked everything that hasn't really paid off for all of them.

The former caption for Pakistan team said though the bowlers were successful in bringing the team back into contention with their bowling in first innings, the batsmen showed a negative approach in their game and put all players in a shaky position. The beginning of second innings itself was disappointing as the opening batsmen Azhar Ali in the collaboration of Sami Aslam made only 38 runs in 21 over that turned out to be extremely defensive game from both the cricketers. Everyone was disappointed to see Sami making 7 runs on a 57 balls and Azhar made 31 runs against 173 balls which is just terrible.

Talking to the media in National Stadium, Karachi, Inzamam-ul-Haq said when openers play more than 170 balls but still don't score good enough, it is obvious they are giving the pressure to rest of the players of the team.

He insisted he was saying this as a former cricketer because he had faced similar situations many times during his career. According to Inzamam, the only way to come out of these situations successfully is to play positively; and he thinks the batsmen needlessly consumed lots of dot balls and put an unnecessary shell around them.

However, the chief selector is still hopeful for Pakistan team to come back in the form and said they would perform better as the tour further progresses. According to Inzamam, our team did well on their England's tour and has the spirit of making a great comeback.

According to the former test match caption, Pakistan possesses a better track record than other Asian teams outside the continental and has even left Sri Lanka and India behind in this regard. Furthermore, the history of Asian teams also shows that Pakistan has been the most excellent team in Asia as it has named many victories in outside of continental tours.

On the other hand, cricket experts believe that new comers and youngsters should be given the chance to show their skills. Moreover, there are some top performers in first class cricket which have been overlooked while selecting the team for international matches. These players include Asif Zakir Usman Salahuddin Asif Zakir, and Akbar ur Rehman who have consistently showed excellent performance. It is also notable that the PCB has given Babar a chance to play with the team even though he has been giving an average performance in his overall matches. However, the 45-year-old said that the management thinks Babar can play well at number 3 in test matches after his exploit performance in One-Day therefore he is backing. Inzamam says he thinks Babar is future of Pakistani cricket and that's why the PCB is investing in him.