Babar frustrated with late dismissal after finally finding form with the bat alongside regaining his confidence.
Babar frustrated after late dismissal despite return to form to ponder what could have been.
In disgust, Babar frustrated and was rooted to the crease. After being placed on a surface with little danger from the bowlers or the pitch, he was astounded by the stroke he had made. He must have believed that he would never make the same error twice, yet it did happen after two sessions.
Therefore, Babar’s shot selection was the main topic of conversation on a day when he scored two half-centuries.
Kwena Maphaka had bowled one well down leg side during Pakistan’s first innings in the opening session, and she was able to persuade Babar to tickle it through to the wicketkeeper. Babar’s strangle-down leg has been a recurring problem. However, this also applies to his dismissal style two sessions later, when he threw his hands at a wide ball from Marco Jansen in the final moments of the day and edged it straight to Gully.
Babar admitted the dismissals meant it was disappointment rather than relief that dominated his emotions. “I’m very disappointed with both innings. I started well, but didn’t finish well,” he said. “If you settle, you must go much bigger. That is why I was a bit upset. There were just 15 minutes left.”
“The conditions here are different from Centurion,” Babar said. “When you come to South Africa, you don’t expect that [the pitch will be so flat]. With the new ball, it was a bit challenging, but once you settled down and built a partnership, it became easier. But there are some rough patches; you saw a couple of overs from Maharaj to Shan which got some turn and bounce. So the spinner is a bit of a challenge for the batter. But against the fast bowler, if you’re settled, just play your normal game.”
But there was some respite for Babar. He had scored three consecutive runs, dating back to the second innings in Centurion, after going around two years without a Test fifty. But rather than bowlers working him out, bad shot selection was the reason for all three dismissals.
“I should have capitalised during our partnership, but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” he said. “In the second innings, my partnership with Shan has helped us come back into the game a little. Tomorrow, we have to try and build a partnership, and the longer those partnerships are the more pressure there’ll be on South Africa.”
However, he is now in a better position to perceive the wider picture because of his ongoing struggles. He has scored the most runs for Pakistan in this series and now has something that all batters value: experience at the crease in a competitive setting.
“Things change in life all the time,” he said. “I learned a lot during this time [of poor form] when what I wanted to do I wasn’t able to do, and when I couldn’t do the things that people expected of me. I just kept telling myself to stay calm, and believe that my ability and hard work would be vindicated, and to try and enjoy myself. But what was really important was to spend some time on the pitch, and thankfully [that has happened this series].”