Pakistan didn't push Sri Lanka hard enough in 1st Test: Muddaser Nazar

Islamabad, Oct 23(ANI): Pakistan did not push Sri Lanka hard enough in the first Test in the UAE, wrongly thinking that it was just a matter of time before they would get the desired result, former Test cricketer Mudassar Nazar has said.

The first match of the three-test series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka resulted in draw, after Pakistan had dominated much of the game.

"Sri Lanka put up a very stiff fight in the second innings, the pitch hadn't done anything, even in the first innings, it was just the quality of the bowlers who pushed them into it. It was a very good pitch to bat on," PakPassion.net quoted Nazar, as saying.

"Pakistan put up a huge total - could have been better if they had pushed the game a little bit - they sat back a little bit, thinking all they needed to do was to just bat for two days and let Sri Lanka come in and defy them for two days, and that's exactly what they've done," he added.

Nazar rued that Pakistan dropped the crucial catches of Sangakkara and Jayawardene, who he said are "not going to fail on a pitch like this twice in a game, and Sangakkara got going. They are top quality players and they made two hundreds, three hundreds. Sangakkara has eight double centuries!"

Nazar was also critical of Pakistan's attention to detail in the field, saying that captain Misbah-ul Haq was a bit lackadaisical.

"If you look at Misbah, he was just standing at mid-off most of the time and not standing in the slips. He's a much better slip fielder than Hafeez, who doesn't look like a slip fielder. On top of that, Shoaib Malik, sitting outside, was the best fielder in the Pakistan team. Instead it was Wahab Riaz, the bowler, coming in [as a substitute fielder] and dropping that catch," he pointed out.

Nazar indicated that Pakistan were not proactive in their approach. "So Pakistan will rue the fact that they didn't push Sri Lanka hard enough, they just sat back, thinking it was just a matter of time before they will get the desired result. You need to put in the hard work. On pitches like this, where there are a lot of runs," he added.

He also felt that Pakistan were definitely short by 40-50 runs, adding that lessons have to be learnt, and that "they need to be a bit more attacking." (ANI)