Misbah-Ul-Haq has suggested Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to send youngsters to play in Australia and South Africa to get acclimatised to conditions before serving Pakistan national side in the long run as he believes it will boost their confidence. He urged that fitness is vital to succeed across all forms of cricket
“I’ve already suggested that some of our players should be sent to Australia on a regular basis to play games here to get used to these conditions at an early stage. I think it’s important for us to get the experience of these conditions and if we are not touring more often in Australia and South Africa, that could happen again and again,” Misbah said.
Misbah, who is already 42, had a torrid time in 3-match Test series against Australia. The current oldest Test cricketer has scored just 76 runs at an unhealthy average of 12.66.
“Some of the guys who might be in line to come here for a series in two or three years should be sent to Australia and South Africa for two or three months to play state games or whatever,” Misbah added.
Steven Smith led-side Australia had a thumping win over Pakistan by 220 runs in the third and final Test of Commonwealth Bank Series at Sydney to claim the series 3-0.
“To win in Australia, your fitness is vital, in any other country you can survive but in Australia, you need supreme fitness,” he said.
With nothing going in their way, Pakistan has lost 12 consecutive Tests on Australian soil since 1999 which is a terrible record, to say the least.
“This is the only way we can improve. Whether it’s a bowling unit or batting unit, we’re going to struggle. These conditions are completely different to any others,” Misbah revealed.
Famous for the name ‘Tuk Tuk’ Misbah has been the most successful skipper in Tests for Pakistan with 24 wins from 53 matches. The middle-order batsman has stated that there is a time to call it a day.
“About my future, there is a fair bit of time. So I think there is time to sit down easily and think about whatever decision I am going to make,” Misbah said.
On the other side, former Pakistan veteran batsman Javed Miandad has lamented over the poor structure of domestic cricket while saying there seems no replacement for Misbah at the moment.
“The problem is we don’t have anyone to replace Misbah. This shows how weak our cricketing structure is. Everywhere in the world, there’s a system in place and players come and go, but unfortunately, we didn’t adopt any such system,” Miandad was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.
From past six years, Misbah has been the batting mainstay for Pakistan. He has received the huge criticism after failing miserably in the series Down Under.
“Why are we now asking Misbah to leave? Have we prepared any replacement for him? Unfortunately, the answer is no and now it’s entirely up to Misbah to decide himself when he wants to quit,” Miandad remarked.
Pakistan bowlers, who were considered lethal, had failed to impress on Australian soil which has pace and bounce to offer.
“It’s not easy for Asian batsmen to come here and score runs and it’s difficult for any Asian side to come here and take 20 wickets in a Test match,” Misbah concluded.
Misbah has appeared in 72 Tests scoring 4951 runs at an average of 45.84. In 2016, he has played 10 Tests in which he amassed 543 runs at an average of 31.94 which included one hundred and four half-centuries.