KARACHI, July 3: Pakistan vice captain captain Misbah-ul-Haq was delighted over the timely eight-wicket triumph against India in the crucial Asia Cup game on Wednesday and said positive approach from the whole outfit paid off handsomely in the contest.

“It was an important win for us and a wonderful start for me as captain,” said Misbah who led the side in the key clash after skipper Shoaib Malik pulled out at the last minute due to dehydration. “Everyone played his role well in the crunch game and thankfully, we are still in the tournament,” said the stylish right-hander after his team successfully chased a daunting 308 for the loss of just two wickets and 4.3 overs to spare.

“Our game plan was only to play positive cricket and that clicked as our bowlers bowled well on such a placid track and then batsmen did the rest,” he added.

“After losing two matches in the early stages, the team’s attitude was on the negative side. Therefore, we decided to change it altogether and played positively lot of determination from all the boys,” he said.

Misbah was all praise for senior batsman Younis Khan who struck an unbeaten, match-winning 123. “Younis played a superb knock, which made the tough target look easy. He was well supported by all the batsmen,” said Misbah who also hit an unbeaten 70 in an unbroken 143-run third-wicket stand which saw Pakistan home.

To a question regarding Shoaib Malik’s future as skipper, Misbah said the all-rounder was very much in chargeand “I as his deputy am just performing my duty.” “The seat belongs to Shoaib and he will be welcome to take it whenever he is fit.”

Misbah also lauded the bowling of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal who made his debut in the India match and impressed all and sundry with his variety and approach. “Saeed has been playing with me for Faisalabad in the domestic cricket and he is really good. Therefore, I referred him to the selectors who also found him quite competent,” he said.

On the other hand, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose team is favourite to win the Asia Cup, expressed concerns about the little impact made by his bowlers in the game.

“Our bowlers made their best efforts but on such a flat pitch it was difficult to even defend a total of 330,” he said. Dhoni admitted that his bowlers were helpless against a rampaging Younis. “I think Younis Khan played a brilliant innings. The bowlers tried everything against him but he was always ahead of them. He didn’t take pressure at all,” Dhoni said.

The Indian skipper said that even 308 runs on that pitch were not enough to defend. “It was a very good batting track and frankly speaking we tried everything. Nothing worked. When I and Rohit were batting we were under pressure because of the quick loss of wickets. On such tracks taking wickets is the key to victory.” He said India also lost three quick wickets in a short period and that put pressure on the remaining batsmen.

Dhoni added that his team lacked an experienced spinner. “We will try to avoid mistakes against Sri Lanka on Thursday to win and enter the final,” he said.

“It will be do-or-die game for us against Sri Lanka and I hope a better show from his boys,” he said.—Agencies