Home season didn't go as expected, admits Babar.

KARACHI -- When it started, it was billed as a bumper home season for Pakistan with Test series in the offing against Australia, England and New Zealand. When it ended with a thrilling draw against New Zealand in the second Test at the National Stadium on Friday, it meant that the hosts had failed to win any of their eight matches.

Pakistan had lost the series to both Australia and England but having earned a draw in the first Test against Tim Southee's men, they managed to do just enough at the National Stadium in a gripping final day of the second Test with their last pair of Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed holding off New ZeaAland's fierce attempts to get a win. A face-saving draw was possible largely due to SarAfraz Ahmed's splendid century but it has raised questions about Pakistan's inability to win at home in the longest format of the game.

Babar Azam was in the firing line at his series-ending news conference and he admAitted that it hadn't gone up to expectations. 'It didn't go as expected,' he told reporters, 'and our performance wasn't up to the mark but we've seen some of our players getting unfit which disturbed our combination. Ups and downs are part of life but my job as captain is to keep the players positive and we will try to learn from our mistakes.'

On batting surfaces, suiAted to Pakistan's strengths, they lost the three-match series to Australia 1-0 before being whitewashed 3-0 by England in a series where they had no answer to their opponents' 'Bazball' approAach. It could've got worse in the first Test against New Zealand where the tourists were denied by bad light after they had made a rip-roaring start to their fourth-innings chase of 138.

Babar however pleaded for patience as it is only in the past 12 months that Test criAcket has made a full-fledged return to the country.

'You have to show patience,' he said, adding he wasn't 'relieved' after seeing his side...