"We wanted to get a result" - Babar Azam on his declaration on day five of first Test against New Zealand

Pakistan captain Babar Azam rued bad light after the first Test against New Zealand in Karachi finished in a draw. The right-handed batter also felt their five-man bowling attack came together well in the first Test.

Pakistan declared at 311-8 in their second innings to set the Kiwis a target of 138 runs in 15 overs. While the tourists played aggressively and seemed on track for a 1-0 series lead, bad light forced the umpires to declare the result as a draw.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Babar said Pakistan were keen for a result. The 28-year-old heaped praise on Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Wasim for playing positively when the hosts ran the risk of losing.

"As you know, we wanted to get a result, as I said at the toss, and we went for the declaration. But the light was not good enough, so it ended in a draw. Our fifth bowler is Salman Agha, he wasn't been feeling well. We missed him with the ball. So, I think our five-bowler attack is good. Wasim and Saud brought us back into the match. Credit to them for playing positive cricket."

Wasim joined hands with Shakeel when Pakistan were teetering at 208-7 with their lead of only 32. The pair put on a 71-run stand to extend Pakistan's lead to over 100 runs. The Kiwis declared with a first-innings lead of 174 after bowling Pakistan out for 438.

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"I had said this in the start that we will go for the result" - Babar Azam

Babar Azam. (Image Credits: Twitter)

Babar reflected that he decided to take a chance as Tests can sometimes become unpredictable and was impressed with the batting performance in both innings. The Lahore-born batter said at the press conference:

"I had said this in the start that we will go for the result, we took our chance and you never know with cricket, anything can happen. You can take chances and we did that. Batting is our strength, I think we made a strong comeback in the first innings."

He added:

"Credit should be given to Salman Ali Agha, the way he batted with the tail and scored a century and put us in a good position. Imam, Saud, Sarfaraz built partnerships in small patches, overall batting performed well."

The second Test against New Zealand starts on January 2nd in Karachi.