LAHORE: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq expects Pakistan to perform better against Australia in their upcoming Test series starting from Dec 15 with the day-night clash in Brisbane.

Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, Misbah, who missed out the last Test against New Zealand, due to a one-match ban imposed by the ICC on him for slow over-rate, said though it is difficult to task to rebuild a team after a series defeat but was not impossible.

New Zealand whitewashed Pakistan in the two-match series after a long gap of 31 years. They lost the first match under Misbah’s captaincy and second when Azhar Ali led the team in absence of the regular captain.

Misbah also anticipated that the playing conditions in Australia would be better as compared to New Zealand, where the green pitches did not allow Pakistan batsmen to play long innings.

In New Zealand Misbah, Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq all flopped, while Sami Aslam, Babar Azam, Azhar and Sarfraz Ahmed managed just one good knock apiece.

Misbah, Pakistan’s most successful Test captain, also gave a ray of hope to his team when observed the current Australian side is not as strong as it was in the past.

He dispelled the impression that he would leave the captaincy after the tour of Australia.

“I will continue to play for Pakistan until my team needs me and there are no issues with my fitness level as I am quite fit,” Misbah said.

In fact, Misbah, who at 42 is the oldest international cricketer currently playing, endorsed PCB chairman Shaharyar Mohammad Khan’s views, who in a latest interview to Dawn had said that the PCB had requested Misbah to carry on playing at least until 2018.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2016