Last week, the Australian cricket team under the leadership of Tim Paine pulled off an unexpected draw against Sarfraz Ahmed’s Pakistan and a lot of credit for that goes to the opener, Usman Khawaja. The inability to run through the Australian tail, there have been a lost of questions been raised regarding Ahmed’s captaincy, under whom the team also lost their first Test series at their adopted home when Sri Lanka whitewashed them 2-0 in 2017.

In Abu Dhabi in the second Test against Australia, the pressure will be on Pakistan’s wicket-keeper captain, and he hopes his players have the wherewithal to take the team through.

Talking to the reporters on the eve of the second Test in Abu Dhabi, Sarfraz said, “As a captain, I am confident of winning this Test match. As a captain, I am proud of how my team responded in the first match. Things went well for us for four and a half days but unfortunately, we couldn’t win the match. Credit goes to Australia. But, the way we played the first Test match, I am very proud of my team. There’s no such fear [of losing]. We have a good opportunity to perform well in this Test match and win the series.”

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Pakistan missed quite a few chances to close out the match in Dubai but couldn’t take it and duly paid as the Test ended in a thrilling draw. The skipper himself was guilty of missing stumpings on more the one occasion, while his on-field tactics also raised a few eyebrows. The unsuccessful DRS also stood out against Pakistan and further led to questions about the on-field application. Ahmed acknowledged that the error of judgment but says that there are plenty of factors that are taken into consideration in a very short period of time.

Sarfraz further explained, “There are a lot of things that need to be taken into consideration while you are going for a review. We have only 15 seconds to make the call. So, I guess, some margin of error needs to be given for an error of judgment. When it is LBW, it is usually the wicketkeeper and the bowler. But, the fielders in front of the batsman also play a role when it comes to reviewing a decision.”

As captain of the Pakistan Test team, Ahmed has scored one half-century in 10 innings and averages below 20. Along with the criticisms about his captaincy, there are questions about his form with the bat.

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Defending himself, the skipper said, “I am concentrating on my batting and I am working hard in the nets. Whenever I get an opportunity to play big innings for the team, I will grab it.”

For the Abu Dhabi Test, where either side can clinch the series, Pakistan has been forced into two changes. Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan have been replaced the injured Imam ul Haq and Wahab Riaz.

Sarfraz concluded after talking about the changes, he said, “Fakhar was brought in so he can score quick runs. Teams around the world are now including batsmen who can score quickly in a Test match, especially in conditions such as here. We scored at a healthy rate throughout the first two sessions [of the first Test] and scored almost 200 runs. But, we lost two quick wickets and from there we had to rebuild our innings again. It is important for us to score at around 3-3.5 an over. If you don’t do it when you go almost a day behind in a Test match.”