Fans on Twitter reacted hilariously after Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said that they wanted a turning track and their plans were based on that. They took a dig at his statement and said that that’s why they played one spinner on this pitch.
“We wanted a turning track and our plans were based on that,” says Babar Azam
The first Test between Pakistan and England concluded with the visitors clinching the game by just 1 wicket and taking a 1-0 lead in the series. It was a superlative bowling performance by the English team as they took 20 wickets on a pitch, that had nothing for bowlers.
Not only for their performance, but Pakistan has faced a lot of criticism for preparing a road-like pitch. The pitch saw over 1700 runs being scored and had England not batted so quickly in the first innings and taken the bold decision to declare innings soon, the game would’ve ended in a draw.
After a staggering first three innings of the Test match, the equation came down to England setting Pakistan a target of 342 runs to chase. With the kind of pitch, it almost seemed that the hosts would win but English bowlers ticked the right areas and kept taking wickets at regular intervals.
James Anderson led the way for his side with a four-wicket haul along with Ollie Robinson, who also took four wickets to help his side in bundling out Pakistan for 268 runs in the second innings and winning the game by 75 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
However, after the match skipper, Babar Azam addressed the media and said that they wanted a turning track, which they didn’t get and their planning was wasted. He said:
“The way we had planned things, the pitch that we wanted, we didn’t get as per our plans. We wanted a turning track and our plans were based on that. Whether it was because of the weather or was it prepared that way, we didn’t get what we had planned”
Babar Azam "The way we had planned things, the pitch that we wanted, we didn't get as per our plans. We wanted a turning track and our plans were based on that. Whether it was because of the weather or was it prepared that way, we didn't get what we had planned" #PAKvENG #Cricket
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) December 5, 2022
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Fans on Twitter react as Babar Azam says “We wanted a turning track and our plans were based on that”
As Babar Azam said that they wanted a turning track and their plans were based on that, fans on Twitter gave hilarious reactions. They took a dig at the Pakistan skipper and hilariously said that’s why they played only one spinner. Here are some of the reactions:
And then went on to pick lone debutant spinner on potential turning track. https://t.co/3zZAr2wwhx
Advertisement— Sarb (@ChandlerStinso1) December 6, 2022
Unfortunately Babar is all but excuses after losing matches, sigh https://t.co/3iUUtSnT6W
Advertisement— Memoona Arslan Bhatti (@MEMOONA616) December 6, 2022
So you're going to just go with whatever you planned before the match?? That's not how you win matches https://t.co/pQO6UrqOeh
Advertisement— izzah | ia for exams (@cobhale) December 6, 2022
So you still went with the same plans after seeing the wicket? You could've changed it.
AdvertisementJust goes to show what some of us have been saying. He gets directives on a sheet and follows them to the dot. Can't think on his according to the situation. https://t.co/34J1F4vI5q
— 🦅 (@M_Usama94) December 6, 2022
What a school boy excuse. Babar is not willing to accept mistakes on his side.
Coward approach not the curator cost us the match. #PAKvsEng https://t.co/htVglWvLPi— Tariq Hussain (@drtareqhussein) December 6, 2022
@babarazam258 shame. And Englishmen got what they had planned? Captaincy is the difference between you and them https://t.co/Kmw1DF2cbK
— Anas Farooq (@anasfarooq03) December 6, 2022
Okay. 🔔 King played only one spinner and that too a 34-year-old on debut or did they play the only spinner after assessing the pitch 🤔 https://t.co/gioguXeZC4
— tee off, not recklessly (@cricketesque) December 5, 2022
Just because you don't get the pitch you plan for, doesn't mean you can't be professional enough to adapt to what you do get#PAKvENG https://t.co/XzslFnDxDU
— ThePoppingCrease (@PoppingCreaseSA) December 5, 2022
If u want spinner pitch nd told to curator then why u played one proper spinner only
Sochne vali baat hain
Kitna jhooth bologe bhai https://t.co/xto47litNF— Ankit (@Ankit85587840) December 5, 2022
Which is why Pakistan played 1 specialist spinner? https://t.co/Xg4EW1pVVf
— Matt (@MR3402) December 5, 2022
Thats why you played 1 spinner is it Babar 🤣 https://t.co/nXsTg6g9ZW
— Matt Vare (@Matt_Vare) December 5, 2022
Babar’s lying. They didn’t want turning track & had 1 specialist spinner in XI https://t.co/tlir8tytDU
— R A S H I D (@forashid) December 5, 2022
What does the weather have to do here for turners? More hours under the sun to bake? https://t.co/E6jOasCy9y
— Marcus Sahoo (@SahooMarcus) December 5, 2022
Don't understand the logic of management, Why you need demand turning track in the first place considering how miserable your spinning department is, instead you should have demanded green track as per you strength. https://t.co/hzWtZVsUeW
— Oswald (@sufferrrrrrrrr) December 5, 2022
Karakoram Highway will be the last option now. https://t.co/l5zoxWiOB9
— As. (@saffronkehwa) December 5, 2022
Planned for a turning track, yet played one full time spinner and three quicks? Are you sure you planned for that? https://t.co/Ru0NQCc9HG
— Farhad Durrani (@fakd03) December 5, 2022
Nahe bahe babar ki halti hai sari usne banyai thi ye highway 🤡 babar ko captaincy se hatao na (pun intended) https://t.co/Rzw1Upa5YC
— M 🌙 | pct stan✨| babar is the best captian (@Mimshere147) December 5, 2022
Planned for a turning track and played zahid mahmood(on debut) as a lone spinner and 3 pacers? With 2 on debut. pic.twitter.com/BicvZ2QQJt
— ansar ahmad (@ansarahmad_) December 5, 2022
They picked Zahid Mahmood as the only spinner. Pathetic excuse given by Babar which doesn’t justify the true reason they lost. We lost because of Babar XI’s defensive approach and intention of drawing the test rather than going for a win.
— Muhammad Ali Abbas (@aliabbas492000) December 6, 2022
Preparing turning track with one spinner.. lol who is he fooling? A spinner who can't even control flow of runs was our only hope on spin track..
— Talib (@tahusain834) December 5, 2022
