Pakistan may have failed to seize the opportunity and ended up losing the first Test against England at Old Trafford in Manchester despite being in a commanding position, former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq believes Pakistan is the better side and they can still manage to win the three-match series by beating the hosts in the next two Tests. Agreeing, it was disappointing to see Pakistan losing the first Test, Inzamam said, Azhar Ali’s men need confidence and they have the ability to turn things around
“I think Pakistan team is better than England and we should have won the first Test. It’s very disappointing but I believe Pakistan can still win the series,” said Inzamam on his official YouTube channel.
Pakistan had taken a 107-run lead in the first innings but got bowled cheaply in the second innings to set England a 277-run target, which captain Azhar Ali described as ‘enough’.
The Pakistan bowlers did well to reduce England to 117 for five but a brilliant partnership between Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler turned the match completely. Buttler scored 75 and Woakes remained unbeaten on 84 to seal the three-wicket win for England. The due had stitched a brilliant 139-run stand for the sixth wicket.
“When you are going through a tough phase, the team’s body language should not change. This was clearly the case in the first Test because Pakistan players seemed under pressure after the second innings batting collapse on the third day,” Inzamam added.
“The role of the team management is vital after such a defeat because the players’ morale will be down. They need to talk about the positives, like scoring 300 plus runs and the first innings lead, rather than focusing on the negatives,” he said.
