LONDON - Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed said he felt both surprised and proud after his inexperienced side outplayed England during a dominant nine-wicket win in the first Test at Lord's.
Victory, completed before lunch on the fourth day, put Pakistan 1-0 up in a two-match series ahead of the second Test at Headingley that starts on Friday. Pakistan's batsmen and bowlers applied themselves to the demands of playing an early season Test in English conditions far more effectively than the home side. They caught better too, with England dropping several chances.
Man-of-the-match Mohammad Abbas led Pakistan's attack with an overall return of eight for 64, while four Pakistan batsmen hit fifties in a competitive first-innings 363. "Yes, I am very surprised," said Sarfraz. "If you look at the England team they are very experienced but I am proud of my players."
Wicket-keeper Sarfraz led from the front in the field, holding an excellent diving catch to dismiss Dawid Malan on Saturday. It was one example of the team's much sharper performance after their shoddy display during this month's five-wicket win over Test debutants Ireland in Dublin, with Sarfraz saying it was a "credit" to the work of Pakistan fielding coach Steve Rixon, the former Australia wicket-keeper. "Ireland gave us a tough time and that helped us prepare for this Test," Sarfraz added. "We thought that even if we lose we should learn." As for Pakistan's batting, Sarfraz said: "The ball was moving, so no credit is enough for the batsmen."
Meanwhile the modest Sarfraz, who led Pakistan to a brilliant victory over arch-rivals India in last year's Champions Trophy one-day final across London at The Oval, played down his captaincy skills. "I don't have anything for self-analysis," he said. "I shout and scream at my players -- everything is right in front of you."
Sarfraz instead praised coach Mickey Arthur, who took charge two years ago and promptly guided Pakistan to a 2-2 draw in a four-Test series in England, for "taking the players along with him" -- something he had also tried to do as skipper.
"There was pressure on him," said Sarfraz. "But we had that belief that he will come good. Inzi (Pakistan selection chief and former Test batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq) talked to him one-on-one and then Mickey talked to him, I spoke to him. "The way he responded was great. "He changed his length, he pitched up, which is key to getting wickets in England."
Meanwhile, England captain Joe Root insisted his side could bounce back in the second and final Test against Pakistan at Headingley next week after a humiliating loss in the series-opener at Lord's. "We know we're under-performing...we've not performed to anywhere we need to," Root said.
He was especially concerned by England's batting. “It's very disappointing," Root told BBC's Test Match Special. "We have been out-performed in all three departments, we have not batted well enough, first innings in particular. "There have been a number of collapses recently and we have to find a way as a group."
He added: "We are ambitious, we want to win but sometimes we make poor decisions. "We've got to be smarter with that -- guys have got to find a way of scoring runs. "Ultimately it's about the number of runs you score, not how long it takes you and maybe on occasions we need to absorb a bit more pressure. "Over a longer period of time that's going to pay dividends for us. We can do that next week and we must take that chance."
Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, was unusually forthright in castigating his side's specialist batsmen. "(This) was nowhere near good enough for Test level...to be bowled out for 180 and 240 is simply not good enough. "We keep making the same mistakes," the Australian added. "The batters have to have a good, hard, long look at themselves."
Nevertheless, Root warned: "It's easy to look at (this result) and say 'right, we need to make drastic changes'.
"But it's not just one or two guys -- we were collectively all under par this week. "It would be very easy to go into next week feeling sorry for ourselves and think there's no way forward for us -- but absolutely there is."