Pakistan team director Mohammad Hafeez called out ‘inconsistent umpiring’ after Australia won the second Test match, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Chasing 317 to win the Boxing Day Test match, Pakistan were in the hunt at 110-3 and then at 219-5 before Pat Cummins had Mohammad Rizwan caught behind amidst some controversy.

That ended a defiant 57-run partnership between Rizwan and Salman Agha before the Pakistan tail caved in. Cummins followed his first-innings 5-48 with 5-49, while Mitchell Starc claimed 4-55 as Pakistan folded for 237 to concede the series.

Pakistan team director Mohammad Hafeez was happy with his team performance, but not with the umpiring: “We made some mistakes as a team. We will take that. We will address those things.

“But, with the same time [sic], I believe inconsistent umpiring, technology curse, really given [sic] us the result which should have been different. So I feel, like, these are the areas [that] need to be addressed rightly.

Hafeez was also confident that Pakistan were the superior of the two sides at the Test match: “I will sum up: our Pakistan team played better than the other team in general. Our batting intent was better. Our bowling was hitting in the right areas.

“Yes, we made some mistakes that we lost the game [sic] but as a team I believe that there were a lot of right positives within the team to win the game, but unfortunately, at the end we didn’t win the game.”

Pakistan team director Mohammad Hafeez gives his take on the Test, talking about technology and his team’s performance #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/8uHUoWhZMX

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 29, 2023

With the win, Australia won the series to retain the Benaud-Qadir Trophy, and extended their streak of wins against Pakistan on home soil to 16 – a world record for any pair of sides.

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