Babar admitted that getting out meant disappointment rather than relief dominated his emotions. He said, “I am very disappointed with both the innings. I started well but could not finish well.” “If you go just, you have to go big. So I was a little nervous. There were only 15 minutes left.”
“The conditions here are different from Centurion,” Babar said. “When you come to South Africa, you don’t expect [the pitch will be so flat]It was a bit challenging with the new ball, but once you settled in and built a partnership it became easier. But there are some rough patches; You saw some overs from Maharaj to Shaan which got some turn and bounce. Therefore there is a bit of a challenge for the spinner batsman. But against fast bowlers, if you are organised, play your normal game.”
However, there was some relief for Babur. After almost two years without a half-century in Tests, he scored three consecutive runs, taking one by the second innings at Centurion. However, the reason for the dismissal of all three players was not due to the bowlers troubling them but poor shot selection.
“I should have capitalized during our partnership, but unfortunately that didn’t happen,” he said. “In the second innings, my partnership with Shan helped us a bit to get back into the game. Tomorrow, we have to try to build partnerships, and the longer these partnerships last, the more pressure there will be on South Africa.”
But the bigger picture is that his struggle for some time now has put him in a better position to be appreciated. He is Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in this series, and now something that matters to every batsman: competitive time at the crease.
“Things change all the time in life,” he said. “I learned a lot during this time.” [of poor form] When I wasn’t able to do what I wanted to do, and when I wasn’t able to do what people expected of me. I just kept telling myself to stay calm, trust that my ability and hard work will come true, and try and have fun. But what was really important was to spend some time on the pitch, and thankfully [that has happened this series],










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