We have a point to prove: Misbah -ul-haq
Jul 8, 2016 at 10:57 AM
Calling the upcoming Test series against England as their “biggest challenge in a long time”, Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has said that they have a point to prove
“This is the biggest challenge for us in a long time,” Misbah said during the Investec Test series launch at Lord’s. “This is the best chance for us, and me as a captain, to perform here especially in these conditions. That’s the point we have to prove.
The skipper, who led Pakistan to victories in the last two Test series against England played in UAE, said that performing in tough conditions make the team better.
“To perform in England, Australia, even South Africa, these are the tours where you really develop your team. The 2010 tour, I think, was a tough tour, but guys like Azhar Ali did well in tough conditions and situations, and that makes you a better player.”
Misbah said that if his batsmen put up good total then they have the quality in their bowling line-up to do well in the series. Yasir Shah and Mohammad Amir’s brilliant performance in the first practice game against Somerset must have given him a lot of confidence.
“That’s a fact that, whoever comes from Asia in these conditions, the batting really has to stand up,” Misbah said. “If you can put good scores on the board, the Pakistan seam attack is good, and we’ve got the best spinner at the moment who’s really bowling well. We really have to stand up as a batting unit and give them good scores, and we are capable of doing well against them.”
Talking about Mohammad Amir, who is making a comeback to Test cricket after serving a ban for five years, Misbah said that the tainted pacer has the support of the whole team.
“Obviously, those are decisions not in your control,” Misbah said. “More importantly, it is the fans and how they reacted, they wanted to see him back playing and so they [the PCB] made the decision with the support of the ICC. So we are there to support him, everyone wants to see him playing again.”
Earlier, English captain Alastair Cook had claimed that Amir would receive a hostile reception in England but Misbah said that he does not care about all those things. He insisted that his sole focus would be on Amir’s performance rather than any off the field incident.
“Honestly speaking, I don’t care about these things,” he said. “Personally, I focus on what’s going on in the middle, and how [Amir] performs when he bowls, that’s what we are looking for.
“He’s got the best chance to prove himself out in the middle, and he doesn’t need to worry about what’s happening with thousands of spectators saying something. He just has to focus on what’s going on in the middle.
“I think he’s bowling really well even on flat tracks in T20 cricket, one-day cricket, four-day cricket,” he added. “His pace is there, he’s swinging the ball, he’s got all the tricks to get batsmen under pressure. But one more thing is that he’s more mature. He wasn’t that mature at that time [in 2010], but that maturity can help him now.”