Pakistan fought hard in the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground but ended up losing the match by 79 runs on Friday (December 29).

With this defeat, the Shan Masood-led side also conceded an unassailable 2-0 lead to Australia in the three-match Test series.

After the second Test, Pakistan's Director of Cricket Mohammad Hafeez made a bold remark, saying that his side may have lost the game but was the better team in Melbourne.

"We played better cricket as a team. I'm proud of that. The way the team had the courage to attack this game in the best possible way. If I sum up the game, the Pakistan team played better than the other team in general," Hafeez said while speaking at post-match press conference.

"Our batting intent was better, and while bowling, we were hitting the right areas. Yes, we made some mistakes that cost us the game but as a team I believe that there were a lot of positives, enough to win the game but unfortunately at the end we didn't win the game," he further added.

Later, a journalist put Hafeez's statement at the forefront when Australian skipper Pat Cummins came to address the media after registering a series-clinching victory at MCG.

In reply, Cummins quipped: "Cool... [laughs]. Yeah, they played well. Glad we got the win."

On being asked about it again by the reporter, the Australian captain added, "Doesn't really matter, does it? It's the team that wins at the end."

There were moments on Day 4 when it looked like Pakistan would walk away with the game. However, a sensation spell from Pat Cummins ended the visitors’ hopes in the final session.

Cummins returned with the figures of 5/49 as collapsed from 216/5 to 237 all-out while chasing 317 in the fourth innings.

The third and final Test of the series will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3.