Babar admitted that the layoffs meant that it was disappointment rather than relief that dominated his emotions. “I’m very disappointed with both rounds. I started well, but I didn’t finish well,” he said. “If you’re content, you have to go a lot further. That’s why I was a little upset. There were only 15 minutes left.”
“The conditions here are different from those in Centurion,” Babar said. “When you come to South Africa, you don’t expect that [the pitch will be so flat]. With the new ball it was a bit difficult, but once you settled in and established a partnership it became easier. But there are some difficult moments; you saw a few overs from Maharaj to Shan that had a turn and a bounce. So the spinner is a bit of a challenge for the batter. But against the fast bowler, if you are set up, just play your normal game. »
There was, however, some relief for Babar. After about two years without a Test fifty, he had scored three on the trot, one run dating back to the second innings at Centurion. However, all three dismissals were due to poor shot selection rather than bowlers dragging it down.
“I should have capitalized during our partnership, but unfortunately that didn’t happen,” he said. “In the second innings, my partnership with Shan helped us get back into the game a bit. Tomorrow we have to try and build a partnership, and the longer these partnerships last, the more pressure there will be on South Africa.”
But there is a bigger picture, which his continued struggle of late has allowed him to better appreciate. He is Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in this series, and now has something every batter appreciates: competitive time at the crease under his belt.
“Things change all the time in life,” he said. “I learned a lot during this time [of poor form] when what I wanted to do I wasn’t able to do, and when I couldn’t do the things people expected of me. I kept telling myself to stay calm, trust that my abilities and hard work would be justified, and try to have fun. But what was really important was spending time in the field and, fortunately, [that has happened this series]”.
