SA VS PAK – frustration for Babar Azam after late dismissal despite returning to form

Babar Azam was rooted in the crisis in disgust. He couldn’t believe the shot he had played after he was put on a surface where there was limited threat from either the field or bowlers. He must have thought that he would never make that mistake again, but two sessions later it happened.

Then on a day when Babar scored two half centuries, the bigger speech point surrounded his choice of shots. Well, that was put during Pakistan’s first place in the opening session, Kwena Maphaka Bowlet had a good down in the leg and managed to lure Babar to tickle it through to the wicket holder. It’s been a persistent problem with Babar – the strangled leg. But then again, his way of dismissing two sessions later is when he threw his hands on a wide delivery from Marco Jansen in today’s dying craving and edged it directly to Gully.

Babar admitted that the redundancies meant that it was disappointment rather than relief that dominated his feelings. “I am very disappointed in both laps. I started well, but didn’t end well, ”he said. “If you settle, you have to go much bigger. That’s why I was a little upset. There was only 15 minutes left.”

It was all the more frustrating because South Africa had no danger of dismissing him or Shan Masood who scored an undefeated hundred. After sending almost a hundred overs over the two laps, their discipline in the last two sessions had been poor; They bowled 10 no-balls in 49 overs of the second round. There was almost no swing or movement of the seam, and Pakistan’s openers seemed to be ready to end the day undefeated and looking to save something after the first disaster.

“The conditions here are different from Centurion,” Babar said. “When you come to South Africa you don’t expect it [the pitch will be so flat]. With the new ball it was a little challenging, but once you have settled down and built a partnership, it became easier. But there are some rough spots; You saw a few overs from Maharaj to Shan, who got some trip and jump. So the spinner is a bit of a challenge for the dough. But against the quick bowler, if you are a resident, just play your normal game. “

However, there was some relief for Babar. After about two years without testing fifty, he had scored three on the trot, a race that extends back to the second round in Centurion. However, all three redundancies were down to poor choices of shots rather than bowlers who worked him out.

“I should have capitalized under our partnership, but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” he said. “In the second round, my partnership with Shan has helped us get back in the game a little. Tomorrow we have to try to build a partnership, and the longer these partnerships are, the more pressure there will be in South Africa.”

But there is a bigger picture that his continued fight too late has put him in a better position to appreciate. He is the highest race scorer for Pakistan this series, and now has something that each dough appreciates: competitive time at the curl under his belt.

“Things change in life all the time,” he said. “I learned a lot during this time [of poor form] When what I wanted to do, I was unable to do and when I couldn’t do the things that people expected of me. I just continued to ask myself to remain calm and believe that my ability and hard work would be justified and try to enjoy myself. But what was really important was to spend some time on the field and fortunately [that has happened this series]”

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