Re: Pakistan V England - 3rd test at Edgbaston
PD Chillax
Yes our batsmen struggle when the pressure is on but who told them to go into a shell after lunch. This is what happens when you don’t rotate the strike…You build pressure on yourselves and the team. They were going along nicely before lunch but lost the plot somehow after that.
The moment we failed to take a substantial first innings lead (should have made 450-500 at least from a position of 250 odd for 2 in the final session of day 2), I knew we were in trouble since we were going to be batting last in the game. It would negate any 100+/- lead. We let the advantage slip on day 3…quite literally
But these things happen in cricket.
Did English players also exhibit mental weakness at Lord’s when they failed to chase 283 with almost 2 days remaining???
Yes we are an inconsistent side, Yes our batsmen are mentally weak (but more often than not we will also play exciting cricket, ask any Englishman)…no amount of coaching or changes in personnel will change that…it is like saying ‘paani geela hota hai!!’ (Azizi)
English players are mentally weaker than Australian players…again no amount of coaching can/will change that.
As I said before, Day 5 batting is always a tricky affair. It is not often the pitch or the bowlers (English bowling was by no means unplayable. Although everyone is talking about it, I did not seen any appreciable reverse swing on day 5. There was probably just a little bit. Anderson and Broad are not Wasim and Waqar… period) or even the umpires (to be fair there were no dubious calls). It is the pressure of survival, of knowing that only one team can lose the game