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Pakistan spin bowling coach and team mentor for the ongoing tour of England, Mushtaq Ahmed, backed the bowlers despite even though they had a tough day ago office on the opening day of the third Test.
Zak Crawley and Jos Butter ruined the early success of Pakistan on the first day of the third Test and helped England end the day at 332/4 after hammering them all around in the final season.
“It was quite tough. The weather played a huge role. The pitch was very flat, and the toss was vital on that pitch. And because the wind was there the whole day, it was very difficult for the bowlers to control their line and length consistently. It was tough especially for young bowlers like Naseem [Shah] and Shaheen [Shah Afridi]. They are new to Test cricket but they made a huge effort and they can be proud of it,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Ahmed as saying.
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“I think we are working on how to deal with being under pressure. When the opposition attacks your young bowlers, it naturally is difficult for them to handle it. But obviously, the credit goes to Crawley and Buttler. They played very well, and this is a flat first-day pitch. The wind made it even tougher, and that’s not an excuse, but it’s also reality,” he added.
Crawley (171*) and Buttler (87*) scripted an unbeaten partnership of 205 runs to push Pakistan into the backfoot after the visitors had dominated the first half of the day’s play.
At the end of the first two sessions, Crawley was batting at 97 with Buttler providing him able support. The duo changed gears from the very first over of the last session and steadily picked singles and doubles frequently to keep Pakistan on their toes.
Mushtaq has suggested that the touring bowlers would need to bowl England out as early as possible on the second day. “We need to try and bowl them out days and an opportunity to put up a big total ourselves,” he said.
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