Ramiz Raja laments Pakistan lost golden opportunity

Former Pakistan captain turned cricket commentator Ramiz Raja slammed Sarfraz Ahmed’s men for their dismal showing against England at Leeds, after the young Pakistani side suffered a humiliating loss by an inning and 55 runs.

“If Pakistan have got a draw, it would have been a big achievement as they lost a tremendous opportunity to win the Test series in England,” Raja said, in a video message on social media. The former captain said that the young side should understand that in Test cricket one has to break out of their comfort zones and show up fight if they desire to win matches.

“It is a young team and a work in progress, it should understand that if they give up easily without putting up a fight, it will become a habit… The youngsters should understand that this is Test cricket, where you have to win sessions and needs to do stuff that is not into your system, for the pride of your country and yourselves,” he said.

“The team should understand that the Pakistani nation loves this game and make a commitment that they would not repeat the performance in the future,” he added.

The end of the second Test came quickly on the third day at Headingley as a second innings collapse from Pakistan gave England their first Test match win since defeating West Indies at Lord's last September.