Misbah calls for patience ahead of Dubai Test

Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq

Life after the retirements of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan has been anything but easy for the Pakistan Test team.
Playing their first ever Test after Misbah and Younis called time on their stellar careers, Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. But Misbah, who passed on the captaincy baton to Sarfraz Ahmed, said every team goes through such a transition and asked for patience.
The elder statesman also said that this team has the potential and will be able to plug the gaps and become a better team in the future.
"I think the biggest danger when experienced players retire from the game, like in Sri Lanka (Mahela) Jayawardene and (Kumar) Sangakkara left, especially in the batting department, and in the longest format where you require this kind of experience, such performances usually happen at the beginning," said MIsbah.
"And unless you pass through those situations and gain experience, you won't be strong. It is a bit of a worry but I think this team has the potential. The kind of innings the players have played, Haris Sohail on his debut, I think they need to improve their performance. They can do it. If you see, these guys have the potential," he added.
The Pakistan batting actually coped well in their first innings, with them scoring 422 in reply to Sri Lanka's 419.
Four of their batsmen scored half-centuries with debutant Haris Sohail making a gritty 76. Azhar Ali had top scored with 85.
But it all came undone in their second dig with them only able to muster 114, chasing 136. Pakistan went on to lose by 21 runs.
The second Test, a day-night one at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, begins on Friday.
Meanwhile, Misbah, who is a part of the T10 Cricket League, still believed that Test cricket and the 50-over format will survive as long as fans get to witness quality cricket.
"It is a concern for cricket overall because Test cricket and One Day cricket is fading a little bit. But having seen the Champions Trophy, nobody can say that. The kind of cricket we have seen in the Champions Trophy, it set the ODI format alive again," said the 43-year-old.
"So, it is all about quality cricket, whether it is T10 cricket, whether it is 50-over cricket, whether it is T20 or Test cricket, we need to go for quality cricket. If there is quality cricket, people will watch that. We witnessed that with the West Indies. Even the last Test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, that was a close game and everybody enjoyed that.
"Test cricket lovers will always find these sort of games somewhere in the world and they love those moments, those sort of matches. So, it is about which kind of cricket that you are getting in which format," added Misbah played 75 Tests, 162 ODIs and 39 T20Is.
james@khaleejtimes.com