Pakistan head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed said on Friday that his side are still smarting from their loss to Bangladesh in the opening Test in Dhaka, but he believes the team can regroup for the second match. Bangladesh secured a 104-run win to move 1-0 ahead in the series, which forms part of the ICC World Test Championship. Sarfaraz added that Pakistan\u2019s mindset is fixed on turning things around, with the squad receiving a boost from the return of Babar Azam, who missed the first Test because of injury.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters in Sylhet ahead of the second Test, Sarfaraz acknowledged the disappointment of the opening defeat. \u201cDefinitely, as a team we are disappointed after the first Test,\u201d he said, adding that the focus now is on what comes next rather than dwelling on the past. \u201cSo, we are hopeful for the next match. Insha\u2019Allah, we will bounce back as a team,\u201d the coach added.<\/p>\n
Sarfaraz confirmed that Babar will be available for the upcoming Test. \u201cYes, Babar Azam is available for the next match,\u201d he said. He then stressed that attention has shifted entirely away from the previous result. \u201cWhat happened in the past has happened. We are not talking about the previous match. We are focused on our next match and we will bounce back,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n
The coach also addressed the criticism that has been directed at Pakistan\u2019s senior players on social media following the Bangladesh defeat. He noted that public scrutiny is nothing new, especially given the reaction that followed the loss back home, where former cricketers and fans questioned the performances of several established names, along with captain Shan Masood.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou talk about the criticism of our senior players\u2014it is not new for us,\u201d Sarfaraz said. He pointed out that if the team is not putting up strong cricket, criticism inevitably follows. \u201cDefinitely, we all know if we are not playing good cricket, the criticism is there. So, we are not worrying about social media things. Our focus is to play the next match. Hopefully, my captain and all the team will play good cricket in the next matches,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sarfaraz further underlined discipline as an area Pakistan must improve. \u201cWe need to be more disciplined. If you talk about playing Test matches, we need to be disciplined with bowling length and batting more patiently,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
He added that the team reviewed their shortcomings after arriving in the host venue. \u201cWe sat down and discussed all these points as a team after we arrived here,\u201d he said, referencing Pakistan\u2019s collapse during two sessions even though they had been aware that they needed to either draw or win the match.<\/p>\n
Concluding his remarks, Sarfaraz expressed hope that the senior members will step up when it matters most. \u201cI am hopeful that the senior players will take responsibility, and Insha\u2019Allah, when such a position arises again, they will pull the team out of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed said on Friday that his side are still smarting from their loss to Bangladesh in the opening Test in Dhaka,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Sarfaraz Ahmed on Pakistan comeback After Dhaka Test Loss","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Sarfaraz Ahmed reacts to Pakistan\u2019s Dhaka Test defeat by Bangladesh, vowing a strong comeback with Babar Azam back for the next match.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n