Pakistan were the better team in the MCG Test even if they lost to Australia: Mohammad Hafeez

Despite conceding the three-Test series to Australia with a 79-run defeat in Melbourne on Friday, interim coach Mohammad Hafeez felt Pakistan were the better of the two teams over the course of the four days.

Pakistan had Australia in the dire straits on Day 4 of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, reducing them to 16/4 in their second innings after conceding a 54-run first innings lead.

They would then put up a spirited display after being set a daunting 317 to win by the Pat Cummins-led hosts. Skipper Shan Masood (60) and Agha Salman (50) scored fifties and shared important partnerships with Babar Azam (41) and Mohammad Rizwan (35), guiding Pakistan to a relatively comfortable 219/5 from where the target appeared within reach.

Rizwan’s dismissal of Cummins’ bowling, however, would trigger a batting collapse that resulted in the Pakistanis losing their next five wickets for just 18 runs, resulting in a defeat inside four days that extended their 28-year winless run in Tests Down Under.

“We played better cricket as a team. I’m proud of that. The way the team had the courage to attack this game in the best possible way. Our batting intent was better, and while bowling, we were hitting the right areas.

“We made some mistakes that cost us the game but as a team I believe that there were a lot of positives, enough to win the game but unfortunately at the end we didn’t win the game,” Hafeez added.

Pakistan team director Mohammad Hafeez gives his take on the Test, talking about technology and his team’s performance #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/8uHUoWhZMX

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 29, 2023

Cummins would lead the way with a haul of 5/49 — his second five-for of the game after his 5/48 helped Australia restrict Pakistan to 264 in the first innings — and would eventually win the Player of the Match award.

The pacer, however, didn’t agree with Hafeez’s assessment on the better team in the MCG Test.

“Cool! Yeah, they played well, but glad we got the win. Doesn’t really matter, does it? (if Pakistan were the better team). It matters who wins at the end,” said Cummins.

Hafeez also defended Abdullah Shafique, who would drop Mitchell Marsh on 20 in the slip cordon on Thursday. Australia could have been 46/5 had he held on to the chance. Instead, Marsh would make the most of the reprieve by adding another 76 runs to his tally and stitching a game-changing fifth-wicket partnership with Steve Smith (50) that was eventually worth 153 runs.

The reprieve would allow the Aussies to set a target beyond 300 that eventually proved to be too steep a mountain for the visitors to climb.

“As a team, you always back your teammates if something is not going well for them. But we made this decision thinking if he’s not feeling comfortable (at slips), Babar (Azam) is a better slip fielder, so why not make the change?

“He (Babar) should take the lead and go to first slip. I think that also worked out very well for me as a director because I could see the right person was doing that job. Obviously, Abdullah is also a good fielder, but he wasn’t feeling confident in the slips,” said the former all-rounder.