Saud Shakeel bemoaned Pakistan's inability to battle through tough conditions after yet another limp batting display at Edgbaston. After being bowled out in 33.5 overs on what appeared the best batting wicket of the series, Shakeel acknowledged his team were "making the same mistakes", and challenged them to fight through difficult patches.
"The pitch will improve as the Test goes on but early on, there was juice in it," Shakeel said. "The toss isn't in our hands, but we lost it and batted first, and the overcast conditions favoured England there. That was an opportunity to strike up a partnership because the pitch improved as the day went on. With the new ball, even England's top order struggled, so it was important to see off the new ball."
Pakistan, however, never looked like doing that. Instead, their top five failed to hit doubles figures - a first for a Test match first innings in England. As far as time at the crease went, the picture wasn't any prettier; the 46 balls the tenth-wicket stand between Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Ali hung around for was comfortably the longest of the innings.
It wasn't through any fault of the pitch either. Pakistan's shot selection in the first session left plenty to be desired, from Azan Awais' little dink to midwicket to Shan Masood's casual back foot jab that took a leading edge for a straightforward catch.
"It's depressing, we're making the same mistake as a batting unit," Shakeel said. "We're getting out in bunches and there were lots of soft dismissals today. We're trying, but yes it's frustrating that we keep making the same mistakes. I don't think it's a confidence issue. If you don't have the confidence to play at this level, then you don't deserve to play here. But in difficult conditions, poor form can be quite hard to break out of."
Shakeel is the only one who looks like breaking out of a difficult spell. From being known as a poor traveller outside Asia, he has managed 140 runs in his last two innings, and is comfortably Pakistan's highest scorer of the series. He has shown an ability to scrap his way out of tough situations, playing a game well out of his comfort zone in an earnest attempt at adaptability. At Lord's, that meant taking on the short ball while here, he went after the bowling in a stark departure from his natural attritional game.
"I try to play according to the demands of any situation," he said. "With wickets falling around me, the best option for me was to make as many runs as I could. So I was batting quicker to adjust to the situation around me."
However, he felt Pakistan had been blindsided by how favourable the wickets have been to bowlers, something Pakistan did not believe would be the case after watching how the summer in England unfolded until now.
"The conditions were challenging, especially at Lord's," he said. "Over there, even someone like Joe Root struggled and has had a difficult series. I was surprised with the conditions here. If you look at the New Zealand series and compare it to this one, there is a lot of lateral movement here. We are not used to that, perhaps. But we were trying our best. We accept our batting failures, but the conditions are also in the favour of the bowlers."