Azhar Mahmood Rips into Pakistan Batters after Collapse Against South Africa

Pakistan head coach Azhar Mahmood unleashed a scathing critique of his team's batting collapse during the first Test against South Africa at Gaddafi Stadium, pinning the blame squarely on poor shot selection and a lack of patience on a challenging pitch. On Day 3, Pakistan squandered a commanding position, plummeting from 150 for 4—leading by 259 runs—to an all-out 167, losing six wickets for just 17 runs in 45 minutes. This handed South Africa a gettable target of 277, tilting the match in favour of the visiting World Test Championship holders and exposing familiar frailties in Pakistan's middle order.

Mahmood, addressing reporters post-session, was unsparing in his assessment. "We put ourselves in this situation. No one is to blame but our shot selection and decision-making," he stated, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. Highlighting the pitch's variable bounce and turn, he emphasised that while conditions aided the bowlers, it was the batters' impatience that proved fatal. "If you lose 6 for 17, that's not ideal. The pitch allowed the ball to break, but the pitch didn't get anyone out. Our shot selection was not good." This marked the second collapse of the match for Pakistan; in their first innings, they had slipped from 199 for 2 to 199 for 5 without scoring, only rescued by a 163-run stand between Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha before the tail folded for 16 runs.

The coach pointed to specific lapses that undermined the innings. Saud Shakeel, who had anchored with 38 after a first-innings golden duck, fell to a needless lofted shot against spinner Senuran Muthusamy just before tea, holing out to Tristan Stubbs at square leg. "You understand in Test cricket when you're vulnerable, and it's often at the end of sessions. Saud played that expansive shot unnecessarily," Mahmood lamented. Rizwan followed suit immediately after the break, and even promoting tearaway quick Shaheen Shah Afridi for aggression backfired as the required caution evaporated. Mahmood urged adaptation: "We have to have the patience to bat on these pitches... It's not easy, but we have to adapt different kinds of shots to improve our scoring options."

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Mahmood reflected on broader patterns, referencing recent struggles against England on a worn surface and the West Indies, where spin dominated. "In the first innings, we had starts but couldn't convert 50s to 100s. In the second, Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam scored 40s, but we'd like to see them turn into big scores." Babar, in particular, failed to capitalise on promising knocks, a recurring theme in his Test form since reclaiming the captaincy. As South Africa chases victory on Day 4, Mahmood stressed learning from these errors: "We made those mistakes, and we will have a look at that in the future." The series, part of a packed home schedule ahead of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle, serves as a litmus test for Pakistan's resolve under Mahmood's guidance since his mid-2024 appointment.

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