Whenever a team got defeat then its leader/skipper is considered responsible for it.

Like, after the

current ashes defeat Cook was blamed by English Media, and same happened when Australia visited
England and got whitewashed, Michael Clarke was considered responsible. MS Dhoni used to get bashed
by Indian media for the defeats of India. But whenever the same rules applies to Pakistan then Pakistani
skipper put all the blame on the batting lineup and don’t take responsibility of the defeat. Also people
show some sympathy with the Pakistan captain which was totally biased behavior by his Fans. So here
we are analyzing the aspect that whether really pak batting would be the reason of Pakistan defeat in
2nd test or it was due to bad captaincy.

1st major reason that cause defeat was that, Pakistan still went with same old plan that they selected
only 4 specialist bowlers and took Hafeez as part timer. Also when we take a look back into the
performance of 1st test, then we can see that Rahat Ali was wicket less. But despite of the fact, he was
again selected in the match, which could be the 2nd major reason of the defeat.3rd probable cause of the
defeat can be the poor selection by the Team management that they trusted and select the players on
the basis of their performance in one day matches.

Ahmed Shahzad failed to show stamina requirement which test cricket required. And the one down
batsman was Muhammad Hafeez, who did not have good technique even in playing T20 and One day
and that’s why his average just touches 30 in one days. If the team management have argument of
selecting him as an all-rounder, than why he did not give the ball for enough overs? Why he only bowled
09 overs in 1st test and why he was allowed to bowl only 06 overs in 1st inning? Anybody who knows the
basics of the cricket must know that one down position should be like that who not only save the team
from collapse of opening team but able to give strength to middle order as well. But unfortunately
Pakistani management prefers an all-rounder instead of specialist Test batsman Why hafeez still unable
to negotiate the in-dippers? If coach is with Pakistan team, then why he still remain unable to overcome
the bad habit of hafeez? He got out in similar fashion almost each and every time and in this test same
happened again.
After his departure Younis and Misbah both shows lack of responsibility and sent to pavilion by the
Srilankan bowlers cheaply. And there was no one in the lower middle order who can bat for long. Again I
must say lack of planning and temperament just because selectors trust to select the players on the
performance of one-days.

There was only one batsman Khurram Manzoor, who performed in the 1st inning but lack of patience
was evident from his shots selection so he got out also before converting his half century into a
milestone of century or double century. Asad Shafique who should be at number 3 slot, again failed to
perform lower down the order and our tail was also not resist against the bowling of Srilanka so Pakistan
end up the inning at 165.

In bowling Pakistan shows much poor performance than in batting. Saeed Ajmal seems to be off killer in
both tests while bhatti and Rahat ali seems to ball like they are bowling in one days, as they leaked too
many runs and their economy was very poor. And for bowling all blame should go to skipper who did
not aggressively cope up with the srilankan batting line up. Skipper’s bowling changes were beyond the
logic. When Junaid took wicket, he removed him from the strike and again handover the ball to Rahat ali
who proves himself as useless as he provedhimselfin1st match. The result was evident that SL went back
into the hut at the end of day 1st with only one wicket down. The very next day they laid a strong
foundation to win this match. Although Rahat Ali strikes early and sent Sangakara home in 6th over and
Junaid also took wicket of Chandimal’s cheaply; but due to defensive approach by the Pakistani captain
they failed to take break troughs after regular intervals. Silva was sent back to pavilion on 95 by Hafeez
and Misbah again did the same as he did earlier; means took him off-strike and gave over to Saeed ajmal
who was wicket less till that time. Mahela Jayawardene was injured but he showed his class and scored
his first ton since April 2012 and the ultimate result was lead of 223 runs at the end of 1st inning.

In 2nd inning Pakistan’s openers and one down Hafeez again failed to perform but Misbah’s and younis
inning helped Pakistan to save the inning defeat. They again gave 100+ stand once again but it was not
well enough to give the respectable total to the opposition to win the match. It seems that despite of
getting several chances by the youngsters, they did not feel their selves comfortable to perform and
make permanent slot in the team. On the other hand Misbah’s is enjoying his best form these days and
continuing the performance he showed in previous year. He completed 3000 runs milestone and is the
oldest player after to achieve this feat. But he remains unable to complete his 6th century and that’s why
the he is considered unlucky always as he failed to fulfill the rescue mission yet again instead of the fact
he played a marvelous inning, in which he played 8 overs where he did not even score a single run,
natural test inning. But rarely Misbah played a match winning knock for team Pakistan. Subsequently,
Sarfraz and Bhatti put a decent effort to save the match but bilawal residues unfortunate and got out in
a very bad manner. He tried to stop the ball and it strikes the stumps after bouncing. And sarfraz also
got a Ball which sneaks between bat and pad and then timber! So the target was only 137 which was not
enough.
The claim that Pakistan bowling is the best deemed unsuccessful as all bowlers did not show any extra
ordinary effort to save this small target. So the result was obvious and Srilanka finished this match with
winning side with 09 wickets in their pockets.

I must reckon that tour management and captain need to identify which players are best suited to which
format and success in one doesn't guarantee success in the other. Also Pakistani skipper should lead
from front instead of putting the responsibility of defeat on batting. If he can bat well, he should advise
his co-mates and juniors as well. Also he should need to change his approach from defensive to
aggressive to end this series at high note. With this conclusion here is Syed Muhammad Ali signing off.
See you guys very soon after the 3rd match.