Misbah regrets not winning Test series and T20s in England

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket team’s head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq on Monday expressed regret over the results of the recently concluded series against England but claimed that the team is on the proper track and can soon overcome the shortcomings that are noticed on the tour, especially within the bowling department.

“The tour of England was vital for not only Pakistan and England but the whole cricketing world within the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Misbah while addressing a presser at the Gaddafi Stadium on Monday. “When I summarise this tour, then as a team and as a teacher , we regret the results that we ended up with. For me, the end in the Test series should are 1-0 in Test and 2-0 in T20 in Pakistan’s favour. But we didn't achieve that which will always remain a regret.”

It may be mentioned here that Pakistan lost the Test series to England 1-0 while the T20 series ended at 1-1 with the primary match washed out. Rain had a serious part to play in curtailing the matches and didn't allow the teams to play consistent cricket throughout.

‘We need to give time to our young pacers to return good’

“Overall, we should always reminisce in terms of cricket we played in adversity (due to Covid-19). How we prepared from zero level to play very competitive cricket. Thirty players were in England without much preparations and now see our performance therein backdrop,” said Misbah, while defending the team’s performance.

“We dominated most sessions of the primary Test (before losing it) and that we set 190 plus targets for England twice and that we also defended within the third T20 and which is appreciable because we fought back after being one match down,” he said.

To an issue Misbah said that everybody plays to win but sometime something goes wrong once you are on the verge of victory. then one can only look to form amends and not repeat mistakes within the future games.”

“Our mistakes are quite visible and therefore the inexperienced bowling attack was exposed when it had been attacked, especially at that crucial stage at Old Trafford once we were so on the brink of victory. But as our bowlers are young, we've to offer them time to be matured with the passage of your time . Asking these young guns to place up performances like James Anderson and Stuart Broad isn't fair really,” he said.

When reminded that Pakistan’s standing in world cricket rankings is poorer altogether three formats now ffrom the time he took over a year ago, Misbah defended himself and said: “If anyone says the team has started losing now, i might wish to tell them that before I joined it and despite being at the highest of the planet T20 rankings, Pakistan lost to South Africa and England.”

“Look unfortunately, our top performers in T20 like Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan - whose roles were vital in bringing Pakistan atop in T20 rankings - have all skilled a nasty patch which has resulted in bringing Pakistan down within the shorter format. But the way we played against England within the T20s is heartening because we've shown spark and this team will go better and better with the passage of your time ,” said Misbah.

Asked why he wasn't consulted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) within the appointment of six provincial cricket team coaches recently and whether it's an indirect message to him that he may soon be relieved from his job as chief selector, Misbah said:”I was busy on a really important tour and that i wasn't in-tuned with the PCB. But because the time is brief , these appointments were necessary to be made as domestic season are going to be commencing soon.”

“Now i will be able to sit with Nadeem Khan (Director National High Performance Centre) to possess an appointment on the whole process,” he added.

When queried that one among the newly-appointed coaches Faisal Iqbal, a former Test cricketer, had criticised him within the past so how does he foresee working with him, Misbah said during a professional found out it had been essential to figure for the longer term by ignoring the past.

“We have played together but now we've to figure on professional lines which just requires us to possess a glance at the performance of every official in their new roles,” he said.

Misbah, who remains Pakistan’s most successful captain, also negated the impression that Babar Azam as T20 captain had no blank check in taking decisions. “Babar may be a powerful captain, having the authority to require the choices on his own. i think until a captain doesn't take independent decisions, he can’t learn the ropes fast enough.”

To several questions regarding mistakes made in picking the playing XI for matches in England, Misbah said selection is usually made keeping in sight the circumstances and conditions and not just by preferring a person .

To an issue Misbah said three seniors players - Muhamamd Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz - had the potential to continue till subsequent year’s T20 World Cup . “Hafeez and Wahab have proved that with their last two years’ performances while Shoaib has all the talent required for the fashionable day cricket,” he said.

“The big job for us is to select a team with a right balance which we'll achieve before the planet Cup 2021,” he predicted.

He praised the young fast bowling pair of Nasim Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, declaring them because the best fast bowlers of their age inn international cricket.

Asked if former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmad had played his farewell match (3rd T20 against England) as he was given an opportunity in situ of prolific wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan, Misbah strongly denied the impression: “You can’t sideline a cricketer on the performance of only one match. He did an honest job on the tour, doing tons of diligence in training sessions and intra-squad matches. But Rizwan is our favorite choice at the instant and after him Sarfaraz is that the runner-up keeper and has enough cricket left in him to contribute in future series,” observed Misbah.

He also didn't didn't accept as true with the question that the heavy support staff wasn't handling things adequately. “It isn't a simple job to handle 30 players on such an extended tour. The experience support staff actually proved beneficial in conducting the training..”

To an issue he said he couldn't determine what the critics term as defensive or aggressive approach in cricket. “When a team scores 190-plus runs in T20 cricket, if a team decides to bat first after winning the add English conditions, and once you make three changes after losing a Test, is that a defensive or aggressive approach?” asked Misbah.

To an issue about Asad Shafiq’s poor run with the bat within the Test series, the previous captain said unfortunately the middle-order batsman was browsing a nasty patch but he still had a big role to play within the Pakistan team.