Karachi: Pakistan pacers let the team down by not restricting Australia on a track that offered variable bounce, former captain Azhar Ali said after a humiliating 360-run defeat in the opening Test in Perth.
Azhar, one of the finest players to have donned Pakistan whites, still plays first-class cricket and recently scored his 49th first-class hundred.
“The sort of uneven bounce we saw on the fourth day is no surprise Pakistan was bowled out for 89. It was very difficult coping with that awkward variable bounce all the time,” Azhar said.
Azhar came down heavily on bowling unit, which he feels over the years had not come to the fore for Pakistan in the past few Test series Down Under.
“How many times have the bowlers bowled out Australia for low scores whereas the batsmen have from time to time put up good totals?,” he questioned.
“Unless you bowl out Australia for under 250-300, you can’t expect to win matches Down Under,” he said.
Azhar, who hit a double hundred at the MCG during Pakistan’s 2016 tour of Australia, observed that Shaheen Shah Afridi and company got carried away by the bounce and weren’t disciplined enough to hit one length consistently.
“Many times our bowlers get carried away with the bounce and pace but the fact is you have to hit a consistent length to get wickets in Australia,” he added.
He pointed out that it had been a long time since Pakistani bowling attack had taken 20 wickets in a match in Australia whereas in this period many times Pakistan did put up big totals.
“Unless you take 20 wickets how can you expect to win against a tough opposition like Australia in their own backyard.”
Interestingly on the 2010 tour of Australia, Pakistan pacers had bowled out Australia twice for low scores at Sydney but the batsmen couldn’t even chase a gettable total of 176 runs in the fourth innings.
Azhar opined that Pakistan should have played one more specialist bowler in place of either Faheem Ashraf or Salman Ali Agha in Perth.