Pakistan were handed a humiliating 360-run defeat by Australia in their opening Test match in Perth but Mohammed Hafeez believes his team can bounce back.
Hafeez, the Pakistan cricket team director, said his players have the talent to stage a fightback despite the massive defeat.
“I’ve seen during our preparation the amount of talent these guys have. There’s no doubt that they can beat Australia here in Australia,” Hafeez said as quoted by Cricbuzz.com.
“But obviously, we couldn’t do that execution-wise. The plan was there and we prepared accordingly. I still believe that as a team, Pakistan can beat Australia here in Australia, but we must execute our skills when required.”
Mohammed Hafeez conceded Pakistan made some tactical blunders on the field and that cost the side.
“We couldn’t execute our skills. We made plans for the team, but unfortunately, as a team, we couldn’t execute our plans. Obviously, the guys wanted to, but they never applied themselves, to be honest. As a team, we made a couple of tactical errors. There were certain situations where we could have dominated. We were prepared, but our execution wasn’t great,” Hafeez added.
Australia are currently leading the three-match series 1-0. Pakistan next take on the Aussies in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26.
