The former Pakistan captain and the all-rounder of the side, Mohammad Hafeez, has credited the spin duo of Sajid Khan and Noman Ali for their home Test series win after nearly four years, as they came from behind, having lost the opening game in Multan against England, to register a 2-1 series victory.
The resilience and skill of the bowlers and the batters on those spin-friendly surfaces allowed the Pakistan side to claim a nine-wicket victory over the Ben Stokes-led side, who started off with a thumping innings victory in the first game in Multan. This has been a pivotal moment for the Green Brigade.
After the first game, the board decided to change the selection committee, and that led to the drop of some of their poster boys from the side in the form of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam, and Naseem Shah. This led to the team allowing Kamran Ghulam, who had been scoring truck-loaded runs in the domestic circuit for such a long time.
Also Read: Is Ruturaj Gaikwad Set to Lead the India A Squad for the Tour of Australia?
The pitches were discovered in a new manner. They reused the same first match surface and brought back two of their spinner, Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, who showed incredible skills with the ball in both of these two games.
Mohammad Hafeez thanks Pakistan spinners for the series victory
Hafeez attributed the bold decisions taken by the new selection panel of the side. On his social media, he shared his admiration for the team’s return to the series, highlighting how the new selectors had a positive impact on the team’s performances and praised the commitment to make some strong decisions.
“Congratulations team Pakistan on winning a home Test series after more than three years. Well done,” Hafeez posted on his ‘X’ handle (formerly known as Twitter). “Credit to new selectors to turn the table around. Making strong decisions & taking responsibility. Well done.”
Losing the toss, the home side was asked to bat second on that surface, which was expected to get worse in the fourth innings of the game. They did a great job by bundling out the visitors for 267 in the first innings, thanks to the six-wicket haul from Sajid Khan, while Noman Ali picked up three wickets in the innings.
They were under the bus in different scenarios of the game, but the 134-run knock from Saud Shakeel and the two knocks of over 40 runs by Noman and Sajid provided them a vital lead. England hardly showed any skills with the bat in their second innings and were bundled out for just 112 runs before some aggressive T20 batting from captain Shan Masood carried them over the line.
Hafeez acknowledged the domestic performers, Salman Ali Agha, Shakeel, Ghulam, and others, who have been consistently performing in the domestic circuit of the game and now have made a vital contribution to the Pakistan side.
“Two faces, Sajid Khan & Noman Ali, with star impactful performances, brought home a series win for Pakistan after more than 3 years. More importantly, their performances exposed many faces.” Hafeez suggested the role of the domestic performers be maintained in the future to keep the competitive standards going on the international stage.
Pakistan will be making their trip to South Africa for the upcoming two-match Test series before they host West Indies at home at the start of the next year. This performance is expected to give more energy to their ODI and T20 set-up, as they face Australia, in an away tour, from November 04.