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“We were not expecting that these sort of results will come. I think our spinners were outstanding and outclassed their batting line-up.” —Photo by AFP
DUBAI: Captain Misbah-ul-Haq wants Pakistan to be recognised as a power in world cricket after leading his country to their first ever clean sweep against England in a three-match Test series on Monday.
Few gave Misbah and his team much of a chance against top-ranked England as Pakistan’s recent Test successes had come against lowly-ranked Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, along with a Sri Lanka team in transition.
But Pakistan never let England settle against their spin duo of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman.
“I think the team showed the world again that we are a power in this cricketing world … now it’s time to give importance to the Pakistan team again,” Misbah said.
Such was the dominance of Ajmal and Rehman, who bagged 24 and 19 wickets respectively, that none of the three tests lasted the full five days. England lost the first Test inside three days by 10 wickets, before losing the second and third by 72 and 71 runs respectively inside four days.
The success also further vindicated the decision to hand the captaincy to Misbah – a business graduate – after three of Pakistan’s cricketers were found guilty of spot-fixing during a Test match against England in 2010.
The 37-year-old has transformed the team since then into a well-knit unit, winning nine of their last 15 Test matches and drawing five. The only loss came in the West Indies.
“That was a big ask for a team to come out of such problems,” Misbah said of the spot-fixing scandal.
As for the 3-0 drubbing just handed out to England, the Pakistan captain made it clear he had not anticipated that England’s renowned batsmen would struggle so much on the slow wickets of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
None of the three recognised middle-order batsmen – Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan – crossed the 100-run mark in six innings, while the top score of the series came from wicketkeeper Matt Prior, with 161.
“We were expecting that they were going to have problems here, because of the slowness of the wickets,” Misbah said.
“But we were not expecting that these sort of results will come. I think our spinners were outstanding and outclassed their batting line-up.”
Misbah now wants Pakistan to face more of Test cricket’s bigger teams.
“Our performance should be recognised … and now we must be given edge in the international scheduling (of matches),” he said.
“If we go to South Africa and Australia, we just want to do well there and I think these players would now just love to take these challenges.”
Closer to home, Misbah said he hoped the impressive triumph over England would also help win support from the International Cricket Council for Pakistan’s bid to host major series once again.
Foreign teams have stayed away from Pakistan since gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka team bus in 2009, killing six police officers and a van driver. The United Arab Emirates has since become Pakistan’s main ‘home’ venue.
“You can’t keep away a nation from international cricket after this performance,” he said.
“The whole world, the ICC, the playing nations should think about it and revive international cricket in Pakistan. How long we can play like this?
“Our people are missing international matches and I think not only the world, but the ICC should also think about this.”
After four years I followed the matches again as they attracted me even in my busy schedule. One thing I must say…Well Done.
Great teams do come back, or in other word "do rise to occasion."
It is dedication, commitment, cooperation, respect, hardwork and some talent that does it.
pakistan side showed all that.
Wayyyy to goooo Pak team!!!
Yep pakistan is good……….
Its been proven time and again that given the chance to truly perform, Pakistanis are the best, may it be building (other) nations, (other countries') infrastructure or just plain sports; we got rid of bad politics in cricket (it seems) and we have blossomed, the day we get rid of bad politics in governance …. sky would be the limit.
I am an Indian and I take this opportunity to Congratulate Pakistan from all Indians for their whitewash triumph over England. But I do no agree with Misbah that after this triumph ICC should revive international Cricket in Pakistan. Teams are not coming Pakistan because they were not doing good in cricket is wrong since Pakistan is always a formidable side in World Cricket, they are not coming Pakistan due to security reasons for which my Pakistani brother will also agree.
yes,,u r right the security reasons in Pakistan is very very very bad ,,its quite difficult cricket teams coming and playing in Pakistan soil there is no doubt pakistani cricket team have lot of abilities and viewers enjoys the game but only problem security not only foreigners as well as Pakistanis.
It is not about giving importance to Pakistan or not, Pakistan has always been a formidable force in world cricket. Every team has its ups and downs and Pakistan Cricket has proved time and again that it has abundant talent in bowling and batting. Pakistani cricketers are not the types who gain fame on the back of media hype and money.
A Justified Cry. Our Performance shows that we deserve respect
This argument that foreign teams should now come to Pakistan because the team is doing better is extremely illogical. The teams are not coming here due to the security concerns and not because the team does not know how to play cricket.
If I was a foreign team, I would still think twice about coming to Pakistan.
I am so proud of the Pakistani team win over England and credit goes to Misbah as captain and the individual efforts of every player. Well done. With regard to having international matches in Pakistan, it is too early. Instead of putting pressure on ICC we must ask our political and military leadership to ensure security in every corner of the country. The world is not going to come running to Pakistan just because we are performing well in Cricket. We must perform well in securing peace within our borders and unless there is clear evidence of that there is no need to ask outside teams to take risks. Remember it would be more dangerous for the reputation of the country if a bad incident happens again. There is a lot of work to be done and our leaders must work hard to show some results.
yes u pointed out correctly… i think for that it need stable government and no more inside war and wars in neighbouring country it wll natural make common citizen of the country then how could u provide an atmosphere for public to come to grounds and international teams to come and play…what kind of home work our cricket board have done and arranged so Such sad inicdent of 2009 will not happen again.. though that was a clear sign of security lapses in that n that truly shows the rest of the world how we give security to teams who come and visit here…pls dont talk too much on such concentrate on batting and catching flaws and i seriously feel Dev whatmore would be a best choice as per professional coatching we need top build team by looking in next world cup… we appreciate selection of new players on merit. Good luck