Cook laments ‘naive’ shot selections
England captain Alastair Cook was unimpressed with the way his side batted in the first Tests against Pakistan at Lord’s, calling their sot selections ‘naive’ and demanding change come Manchester.
Pakistan won by 75 runs on day four, bowling England out for 207 in their second innings. Yasir Shah took 10 wickets in the match, and Cook felt the spinner was handed wickets thanks to dire shot choices.
Cook, who top-scored for his side with 81, said: “It was a 350 or 400 wicket. So for a legspinner to get a six-for on day two is frustrating.
“We allowed Yasir to get six wickets when he wasn’t turning the ball. It cost us.
“We played too many bad shots. There was some poor shot selection and we played some naive shots at times. Nobody scored a hundred for us in this game and you don’t win too many games when you don’t score hundreds.”
He added: “There’s a bitter taste in the dressing room right now. Some of the shots [in the second innings was risky] But it’s up to the individuals to change.
“I always thought we were two wickets behind than we wanted to be. It’s really frustrating. but we’ve lost before, we can bounce back.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s post-match celebrations included 10 push ups and a salute, with the players lining up in two rows to emulate the celebrations skipper Misbah-ul-Haq did on day one.
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