PAK vs AUS | Azhar Ali praises Cummins masterclass in Lahore Test

Things were following path in the third Test of this historic series between Australia and Pakistan, but then Pat Cummins took the command and rattled the hosts at Gadaffi Stadium, Lahore. Pakistan were firmly placed at 214/2, with two of their best batters - Azhar Ali and Babar Azam - taking a full toll on the Aussie bowlers. But as mentioned above, things took a complete 180-degree turn in the final session.

As the visitors took the second new ball, the well-set Azhar was removed by a spellbinding caught-bowled stunt performed by Pat Cummins. That cracker initiated a collapse headed by Mitchell Starc and skipper Cummins. The Pakistani middle and lower-middle were stifled like a house of cards. They crumbled from 264/5 to 268 all-out, which was recorded as one of cricket's most embarrassing batting collapses. 

Azhar, who became only the fifth Pakistani batsman to score 7000 test runs yesterday, highly applauded the hostile fast bowling of Cummins and Starc and admitted that both the Aussie seamers, particularly the former, exploited the conditions exceptionally well. 

The Lahore-born even termed Cummins as one of the finest of this generation and stated that the surface's low-bounce acted as an added advantage in Australia's favour. 

"We have to give credit to them. We always knew how good they are, especially Starc when it comes to reverse-swing. Cummins, he's an all-round very good bowler - he is the top bowler in the world right now, and he exploited the conditions really well", Azhar said. 

"It was hard work for the fast bowlers but there was always a kind of low bounce and reverse-swing going on since yesterday. They kept on bowling in the right areas and kept asking questions, even to the set batsmen as well, and late in the day there were some good results for them. It was lovely to see good, fast, reverse-swing bowling, and unfortunately, we were on the receiving end," he further added. 

On being asked about what went wrong for the hosts, the former Pakistan captain reckoned that they needed someone to capitalise after getting set and bat throughout the innings. 

“When you play on these pitches you have to bat long, because runs don’t come very quickly. Our intent was to maximise the partnerships because it becomes a little difficult for the new batsman because runs don’t come quickly, you don’t become set, and reverse swing starts very early. 

“Our 80s, we wanted to convert them into 150s and 170s because it was difficult for the new batsmen. Once our partnership (Azhar-Shafique) was broken, it wasn't easy for the new batsmen who came in. Unfortunately, the collapse happened very early, and yes, we are in some trouble," he further added. 

Despite Pakistan being in a critical position right now, the number 3 batter praised the beauty of a Test match, and he stated it truly lies in the see-saw battle between the teams. 

"The collapse we had after tea has dented our chances a little bit in the game but Test cricket is like that - it goes up and down. That's the beauty of Test cricket and hopefully, we can turn things around tomorrow," Azhar concluded. 

At the time of writing, Australia are at 98 for the loss of one wicket with a lead of 221 runs after the end of the first session on Day 3.