With only a solitary defeat in the five day format last year and a controversy free year on the field, Misbah ul Haq was a satisfied man as he discussed the team’s progress when speaking with PakPassion.net

By Saj Sadiq (1st January, 2012)

Undefeated in Test series against New Zealand, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2011, Pakistan can be satisfied at how the last year has gone. Under the studious and methodical leadership of Misbah ul Haq they have played a brand of Test cricket that has been effective, understandable and ideal given the resources at their disposal.

With only a solitary defeat in the five day format last year and a controversy free year on the field, Misbah ul Haq was a satisfied man as he discussed the team’s progress when speaking with PakPassion.net

“It was a good year for the Pakistan cricket team, the performances have been good. Starting from the tour of New Zealand at the beginning of the year right through to the recent tour of Bangladesh, it’s been a very good show from every player. The contribution of every player has been very important through the year and it’s been a total team effort and all the players should be proud of their achievements. Whilst we can be proud of our efforts last year, there is definitely room for improvement next year.”

When asked to comment on the low points of 2011, the 37 year old stalwart stated “The World Cup semi final was undoubtedly the low point last year. Winning the World Cup would have been a fantastic achievement and it was disappointing to lose that match in Mohali against India. But, there again reaching the semi finals when we weren’t amongst the favourites was a decent and commendable achievement.”

“Also another disappointment was not winning a Test series in the Caribbean for the first time in 54 years. Only managing a 1-1 draw in the series against the West Indies was disappointing. We had high hopes for that series and coming back with a draw was something that I felt we could have improved upon.” 

Pakistan’s steady improvement in the ICC Test rankings was also extremely satisfying for Misbah as he looked ahead to a tough start to the year with a series against the top ranked Test side in the world, England.

“The recent improvement in the team rankings is a good sign and we’ll look to keep on improving our ranking with every series. I see 2012 as year that will define where we are as a team and where we can go. The aim of course is to keep on climbing up the rankings tables starting with the upcoming series against England, where we will look to start the year well and we are very focussed on starting the year well.”

There was an all round improvement in the quality of cricket played by Pakistan last year in Test matches, however the ground fielding and the catching continues to remain a concern for captain and coach. Misbah feels that taking half chances against the top sides like England is absolutely vital for Pakistan’s progress. In addition he emphasised the importance of producing high quality up and coming slip fielders.

“We need to continue to develop specialists in key fielding positions particularly in Test cricket. Fielders at silly point, short leg and in the slip cordon have to be specialists as these fielding positions are key to your chances in the field in Test cricket. I feel that it’s very important that we develop fielders who can field in these positions, particularly developing youngsters who can do a good job fielding in these key positions. At the moment we have Azhar Ali who is a good fielder at silly point or short leg, but we have to produce good quality, young slip fielders who can take their chances in the slips when stood there either for the quick bowlers or the spinners. This is something that is in our plans, we are working on this aspect but we need to show more consistency in our fielding. However, I’m sure we will continue to improve in this facet of our game.”

Whilst Pakistan’s record in Test cricket during 2011 was pleasing, critics have rather harshly stated that the brand of cricket being played by the side under Misbah’s leadership is not entertaining enough or attractive to watch. However Misbah was quick to respond to this criticism citing results being more important than providing entertainment at this juncture for the Pakistan side.

“The most important thing is to win cricket matches and we are just focussing on wining at the moment. At the moment winning cricket matches is more important than entertainment in Test cricket. Our first aim is to win matches, we want to continue to win matches, build the confidence of the players and the team, then we can look at working on the entertainment aspect in Test cricket. Once the confidence is there and you are winning, yes you can look at being more aggressive and more positive in your batting, improve your strike rates, but the key is to excel as a team first and then look at the aspect of entertainment.”

The 2010 series in England between Pakistan and England was marred by the now well documented spot fixing controversy and as a result relations between some of the players became rather soured. The Jonathan Trott and Wahab Riaz incident at Lords during the practice sessions ahead of the fourth one day international was the boiling point, but Misbah feels that from his own and his team’s perspective there focus will be on the cricket alone.

“As far as the Pakistan team is concerned we will just be focussing on playing good cricket. That is our only aim and none of the players need to think about what happened in England in 2010. We are just looking forward to having a successful series against England and playing cricket in a good spirit. I don’t think there will be any problems from our side with disciplinary matters, we aren’t interested in getting involved in any non cricketing issues or problems and we will just be concentrating on cricket and our performances.”

Misbah who wasn’t part of the squad who toured England in 2010 feels that the upcoming series against England will be an extremely tough one for Pakistan and that the key for his side will be for the batsmen to give their bowlers enough runs to work with.

“The England team has everything, they have top spinners, have good fast bowlers, have a strong batting line up too. However the conditions will not be in favour of them and we’ve played a lot of cricket in the conditions that England will see in the UAE. In order for Pakistan to defeat England in the Test series we will have to play very good and disciplined cricket, especially ensuring that we put runs on the board for our bowlers to work with. Our strength is in our bowling attack, but the key is for our batsmen to put the runs on the board and enable the bowlers to work with the totals that the batsmen have put up.”

“Having mentioned the advantage for Pakistan as far as the conditions are concerned, I do feel though that the England team can play well in any type of conditions. The conditions that we expect to encounter in the UAE do give us hope, but we simply cannot go to the UAE thinking that the conditions are in our favour and rely so heavily on them. England though too will have to work very hard if they are to do well in the UAE.”

Assessing his upcoming opponents further and in response to a question about any particular England players that he felt Pakistan needed to be wary of, Misbah who is yet to face England in Test cricket added “England are the number one ranked team in Test cricket because their every player is performing well, their batsmen are making runs, their bowlers are doing a wonderful job, their wicketkeeper is scoring runs and keeping wicket very well, so we have to focus on every one of the opponents, rather than just one or two specific players. It would be a mistake to just focus on one or two individuals in the England ranks. We are going to have to plan well against England and play exceptional cricket to defeat them. It should be a very competitive series and one that I am really looking forward to.”

The three Test series commences on 17th January at the Dubai Sports City Stadium, with the second Test match scheduled for Abu Dhabi on 25th January. The final Test match commences on 3rd February in Dubai.