AUS vs PAK | Pakistan batting capable of posting 400-450 in Australia, asserts Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakistan's Head Coach and Chief Selector Misbah-ul-Haq believes that Pakistan's batting unit is capable of piling on big runs in Australia. Misbah, who is under immense pressure after Pakistan's defeat against Sri Lanka and Australia in T20s, is hopeful of his team making a strong comeback in Tests.
Pakistan's Head Coach Misbah-ul-Haq has been under some tremendous pressure of late with many former Pakistan cricketers calling for his resignation from the position of Head Coach and Chief Selector. Pakistan Cricket Board has taken a strong decision by dropping regular skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed and giving the Test reigns to Azhar Ali in order to usher in a fresh new change in Pakistan's Test set up.
The Men in Green were highly impressive in their batting effort in the three-day practice game where Babar Azam and Asad Shafiq scored big hundreds. Misbah, thus, is hopeful that after a horror show in the T20Is against Sri Lanka at home and against Australia down under, Pakistan will bounce back in the Test format and give the Aussies a run for their money.
"Overall, when you try out different options and search for solutions you have go through all of that," Misbah said in Perth, reported news18.
"Obviously when you are settled, you get the results but if you want to improve a few things, you should also think about the future for back-ups. If you need to try new players, you need to look past that. Obviously, we were looking to win those games but we were looking far ahead by giving few players the experience they need. There are a lot of positives for us, and this is definitely going to help Pakistan in future," he asserted.
Teams from the subcontinent have always found it difficult to adjust to the pace and bounce in the Australian conditions but Misbah believes that with the likes of Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam and Shan Masood in the Pakistan batting line up, there is enough experience to help them score big runs and adjust and adapt to the pace and bounce.
"For Asian teams in Australia, it's always difficult but overall the best thing for us is that our batting line-up is experienced. Our boys who have toured previously scored runs here. Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Shan Masood had a good time in the bouncy tracks in South Africa so looking forward, we have a good mature team," he said.
"We have got good, young fast bowlers and Yasir Shah was there with us last time. When you have such an ambitious team, you expect good results. The fast bowlers are energetic and all the players are expected to play well in the conditions," he further added.
Misbah lavished praise on veteran spinner Yasir Shah, who will bring some much-needed experience to the table having previously played in Australia and believes that the 33-year-old's seniority will be of great help to the team. He has also instilled his faith in the young fast bowling group and believes that Pakistan will play positive cricket and look to take 20 wickets and put runs on the board to win Test matches Down Under.
"He (Yasir) is aware of Australian conditions and he also had better preparation playing domestic cricket at home. He bowled lengthy spells there and he exactly knows what was missing during his previous tour here. So, I am hoping that our preparation are better than before," Misbah asserted.
"It's important for us to take 20 wickets because you can't win without it. I feel our batting line-up is capable enough to put up 400-450 runs on the board, so it also help our bowlers along the way," he concluded.