Pak suffered in Dunedin Test due to 'mental block' : Mudassar

Islamabad, Dec.1 (ANI): Former Pakistan opening batsman and coach Mudassar Nazar has blasted his country's batsmen for their poor show during the Dunedin Test, saying they were having a 'mental block', which prevented them from chasing down a moderate target of 251 in the first Test.

Nazar said the pressure of batting last in the match affected the top order's performance, and it failed miserably in the Dunedin Test, which the hosts won by 32 runs.

"I think Pakistan had a mental block batting last and chasing 250, it was the pressure of batting last and chasing down a score that got to the boys," Nazar told PakPassion.net.

Nazar, who is currently appointed by the ICC as a development coach, also criticised captain Mohammad Yousuf's decision to bowl first.

He said Yousuf's decision clearly indicated that he has no confidence in his batting line-up.

"Yousuf's thinking was probably that the ball would do a lot on day one. However Pakistan should have batted first and ensured that it was New Zealand who were the team batting in the fourth innings at Dunedin. Bowling first was a defensive move by the Pakistan skipper and one that was probably based on not having much faith in the Pakistan batting line-up to bat well on day one," Nazar said.

Nazar said he is also surprised with the way the Dunedin pitch responded during the match, and said he was expecting plenty of seam movement and bounce from the wicket.

"I was expecting to see plenty of seam movement and plenty of swing, I was expecting a bit of a flyer. However, it turned out to be a bland track with only little assistance for the bowlers. I've never seen such a flat track in Dunedin," he added.

Nazar also questioned the team management's decision to play Imran Farhat despite the fact that he has not played any international cricket for months, and said that he would definitely want to see Salman Butt opening the batting in the second Test starting Thursday.

"I would have played Salman Butt. At least he would add some experience to the starting line-up and I fully expect him to play in the second Test," he said. (ANI)