ISLAMABAD: Former captain Misbah-ul-Haq believes Pakistan can have a respectable finishing in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy if they continue playing the way they did against top-ranked South Africa at Edgbaston on Wednesday.

“After suffering defeat against India in the opener I think Pakistan have found a clue how to play. They played against South Africa with a changed mindset. If they continue playing in the same fashion in the rest of the tournament then I believe they can have very good finishing,” Misbah told a sports TV channel on Thursday.

He in particular mentioned the performance of debutant opener Fakhar Zaman and top-order batsman Babar Azam.

Misbah reckons Fakhar’s belief and self-confidence against South Africa was excellent.

“The good thing about Fakhar is that he plays aggressively while remaining sensible. This is how he also plays at the domestic level,” Misbah, who recently retired from Test cricket, noted.

“It was his debut match but at no point he looked nervous. He showed a great temperament against South Africa and it was marvellous to see him taking on world’s top-class bowlers in English conditions.”

The ex-skipper hoped that Fakhar’s game awareness would improve with the passage of time.

About Babar, Misbah said he had turned into a mature player.

“Babar an asset for Pakistan. He is scoring consistently. It is after a long time that Pakistan have found a player at the one-down position who is very strong on the back foot.

“He is also a very busy player and does not find difficulty in any sort of condition. Against South Africa he played according to the requirement, and he is improving and that is very good for Pakistan,” Misbah added.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2017