Dubai – It was robust for Misbah-ul-Haq to see Pakistan lose a Check at a venue which over time he constructed as their fortress. The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi had not seen Pakistan shedding in 9 Checks, till Sri Lanka surprised them by 21 runs on Monday.
However extra disappointing for him was the style through which the staff succumbed tamely in a modest chase of 136, with Rangana Herath, the left-arm spinner, the chief destroyer with 6 for 43 in Pakistan’s second-innings 114. In all, the wily spinner took 11 wickets within the match on his option to changing into the primary left-arm spinner to take 400 Check wickets.
Misbah, who together with one other nice Younis Khan had left a giant void in Pakistan’s batting with their retirement in Might this yr, reasoned that the staff was inexperienced and wanted backing to stage a comeback within the second Check beginning in Dubai on Friday.
“I feel the inexperience let the staff down,” Misbah informed wisden.pk. “It was a small goal however the best way the batsmen batted confirmed their inexperience. They didn’t assault Herath and while you don’t try this, he bowls at his finest; it’s then robust to play him.”
Misbah backed the ploy to play with three seamers however stated ideally, two spinners must be performed within the UAE.
“Look, there was grass and the pitch regarded good,” he reasoned. “You possibly can’t assume you’re going to get to make first use of it as a result of it relies on the toss. We performed three seamers right here within the Check towards South Africa and received regardless of shedding the toss. “Possibly they took the grass and the moisture into consideration however ideally, no matter be the situations, contemplating the warmth and the truth that the pitch will get dry shortly, one ought to play with two spinners.”
However Misbah believes the inexperienced batting pressured Pakistan to play with solely 4 bowlers and make use of part-timers. “You possibly can’t play 5 bowlers with Sarfraz (Ahmed, the captain) because the sixth batsman as a result of the mix is six batsmen plus the ‘keeper. However there are inexperienced batsmen, in order that should be considered.”
Misbah additionally agreed with the batting positions that had been in vogue for this Check, with Azhar Ali coming again to his customary one-drop slot from opening and Asad Shafiq promoted from No. 6 to No. four. “Look, your skilled batsman bats up the order,” stated Misbah. “Asad was taking part in too low, he needed to come up. I feel No. 6 was low for him. Sarfraz can be batting low at No. 7, on condition that he has a mean of 40 and he bats effectively towards spinners. Asad is okay at No. four and the change was good. The openers wanted to be skilled as a result of after me and Younus, there was a spot, there have been worrying indicators. However now, it’s a must to make adjustments. Clearly you strive completely different combos and it’s not needed that they’ll come off within the very first Check.”
“It’s a must to give some cushion to the staff and I’m assured that they’ve the potential to come back again within the second match,” stated Misbah of the second Check, a day-night sport.
