Australia captain says coming away with a draw in sub-continent conditions "not a bad result"
Australia captain Pat Cummins believes the lifeless pitch in Rawalpindi was specially designed to eliminate the visitors' fast attack and that despite his team taking only four wickets in the entire Test, the draw was a good one. The result was
Just 14 wickets fell in five days, with Pakistan scoring 476 for 4 and 252 for 0 in two innings, before the game was called off with an hour to five days. Australia set some unwanted records, with the bowlers claiming just three scalps in 239 overs, accounting for a straight-hit run-out from Marnus Labuschagne for the fourth. Australia's combined bowling average of 238.33 and a strike-rate of 478 was the second-worst in Test cricket in 145 years, sitting behind Pakistan's efforts at Kingston, Jamaica in 1958, when Sir Garfield Sobers scored an unbeaten 365.
But Cummins was "absolutely not" concerned about his team's lack of penetration in nearly three full days of bowling on the surface, which he rated as one of the flattest he had ever played.
"Turning to a pitch that's probably not the traditional pitch you'll find here in Rawalpindi, and it's probably clear that they've tried to try and eliminate fast bowling," Cummins said after the match.
"I think it's a positive. And, the situation in the subcontinent, it's not a bad result to come with a draw."
Cummins was pleased with the efforts of his bowlers throughout the Test match and explained that once results became impossible early on day five, he decided to keep his key bowlers fresh by not over-bowling them for the next Test in Karachi. made a concerted effort.
"I think we all tried different things," Cummins said. "I think all the fast bowlers, although we have spent the best part of three days in the field, I think we all have bowled around 25, max 30 overs, which is compared to many Australian Test matches. Indeed. I have a very light workload.
"Not a big look at reverse swing in this Test but may come into it later. But I was really happy with how everyone went and everyone was spotless."
Imam-ul-Haq became only the 10th Pakistani batsman to score a double century in a Test match. Incidentally, the last three players to do so, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali and Misbah-ul-Haq, all achieved the feat against Australia in UAE 2014. Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc were also part of Australia's attack in that series.
Imam and Abdullah Shafiq also set a new record for most runs scored by an opening pair in partnership against Australia.
Cummins admitted that despite favorable batting conditions in Rawalpindi, Australia need to review their plans for themselves before Karachi.
"I thought the Pakistani batsmen batted really well throughout the game," Cummins said. "Took themselves in and then once they found themselves they were just able to stick to the score.
“We will spend the next few days reviewing the different plans ahead of Karachi, perhaps even anticipating different conditions.
Cummins was pleased with his own team's batting performance with half-centuries in the entire top four for the first time since 2015 and Usman Khawaja and David Warner opened 156 runs. Given the nature of the surface, it makes the case that Australia's batsmen probably could have been richer than this, as none of the top four kicked off a big century, and all four worked mainly on their own. used to make mistakes.
But it was their first hit of the series and the second instance of an Australian team making 450-plus in a Test in Asia since 2011, with the captain satisfied with the performance.
Apart from the pitch turning the game into a difficult high-scoring affair, Cummins was full of praise for the people of Rawalpindi, who made Australia's first Test in Pakistan a touch more tolerable in 24 years.
"They were a great crowd," he said.
"Really really passionate crowd for Pakistan but really respectful and great for our players as well. I loved that. Every time we walked on the field they were shouting slogans and trying to take waves from our players." Were there, which is great."