Former South African skipper AB de Villiers has slammed Pakistan batters after their dismal show in the first two matches against England. Pakistan suffered a 194-run loss in the second Test match and haven’t been able to deliver a consistent batting performance.
Pakistan has returned with scores of 171, 135, 110 and 194 in the first two Test matches. Thus, the visitors have failed to breach the 200-run mark. AB reckons the Pakistan batters lack guts in Test cricket.
“I always felt that Test cricket is a test of your character. And that’s maybe what Pakistan is lacking at the moment: a bit of character, a bit of fight, and an individual leadership group of four or five players who decide together, “You know what? Let’s be the leaders here and show the guys. Let’s be the example. Let’s show the youngsters what it takes to win Test matches, or ODIs, or T20s,” De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
“And maybe that is the area that they’re lacking. But definitely also a bit of mismanagement from the top, lots of chopping, changing, lots of change of leadership. Babar (Azam) back now, so hopefully he gets an extended run and stays fit and starts scoring runs again, like we all know he can, and for his fellow teammates to start following that lead,” he added.
The former RCB batter reckons Pakistan batters haven’t worked hard enough and there have been a lot of soft wickets.
“I don’t often, or these days currently, see a lot of Pakistan players individually being prepared to put the extra hard yards in there. They had a tour to England now, and especially with a batting unit, not enough — what’s the word? — guts, fight. It doesn’t always have to be pretty. And lots of soft wickets,” he said.
“And that’s what it comes down to. It’s a decision that you make. I’m new in Test cricket; I’m not always going to be flamboyant and look elegant out there. It’s sometimes ugly and terribly difficult to watch. And if I played for my ego, I probably would have been a different player. So it was always, for me, about how much character can I show out here today. It always felt like a threat on my character from the opposition, and that’s the way I decided to play the situation,” he added.
The third and final Test between England and Pakistan will be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham, from September 9 onwards.
