Pakistan captain Babar Azam has said that he was always confident of taking “courageous decisions”. Trusted his bowlers.
Pakistan posted a score of 329 for the hosts in the second Test at Sabina Park, giving themselves a potential 130 overs to bowl out West Indies. Azam said Pakistan, already trailing in the series, had few options but to declare early after taking a 152 lead in the first innings.
Fast bowler Shaheen Afridi dismissed
Azam also credited his bowlers for the coveted victory and dismissed left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi, who scored a career-best 10 for 94 in the first innings, including his best figures of 6 for 51.
Babar Azam said, “He is really young and the way he is preparing himself and performing for Pakistan shows that he has a great sense of humor.” “He is only improving and learning day by day. He has faith in himself, and every time he is given the ball, he bowls at the same pace. And so it is as a captain. Really helpful for me.”
Pakistan also picked left-arm spinner Nauman Ali, who was the only frontline spinner from either side, unlike the first Test when Jomel Warrican was in the West Indies XI. Although Nauman Ali bowled only one over in the first innings, he was used for 22 overs in the second innings, getting the big wickets of Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, and Jason Holder.
Azam said, ‘Today our bowlers were excellent and I should only give all the credit to them. “Even Ali bowled well. It was the fifth day’s pitch, and the way he bowled and took some turns, as well as his three wickets in the end, proved to be important for us.
Fawad Alam scored his fifth Test century
Babar also highlighted senior batsman, Fawad Alam, for his contributions, with Alam scoring his fifth Test century and his fourth since his return last year – saving Pakistan 2 for 3 in the first innings, and overall remained unbeaten on 124. of 302.
“As I have always said, he is an experienced player. He has got so many runs in first-class [cricket] and he has an amazing record there,” Azam said. “And so the way he handled the pressure, built his innings, and contributed to the team according to the circumstances, was outstanding. All our batsmen should learn from him as well.”
Also read: Shaheen Afridi-“Man on a Mission” 10 wickets in a Match
However, Azam’s counterpart Brathwaite was left asking for more from his batsmen, with West Indies scoring 150 and 219 runs in the match.
Brathwaite spoke about the 19-year-old
“He is a star, you can see him taking over 250 wickets,” Brathwaite said of the 19-year-old. “I know he has a big future ahead. With experience guiding our bowling group – Kemar, and Jason – he is definitely a future star.”
“As a bowling unit they were very reasonable,” he said. “Basing-wise, their players who came in the first innings, obviously Fawad scoring a century is something for me and the batsmen – when we get that start, we count it,” he said.
“I still think it’s positive because we didn’t lose the series. I thought the team did a great job on the first test. We let ourselves down in the first innings of this match. To guide the bowlers again. Congratulations. We have made some progress in the series, but the first innings of this Test let us down.
