LAHORE: Giving credit to fine fielding and team effort in earning much-needed victory against South Africa in the two-Test series, head coach Misbah-ul-Haq on Tuesday said he would not underestimate the visitors in the upcoming three-match T20 series, starting at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday.

“There is no magic wand to turn things around in a day. It is the result of the 16 months of hard work during which we have been losing matches from winning or drawing positions. I feel that our fielding has improved a lot. We availed chances at crucial stages, pulled off fine run-outs and grabbed vital catches which made the difference against Proteas,” Misbah said during a virtual media conference on Tuesday.

“Yes, our bowlers also did well and our batsmen, especially middle and lower order played key roles and among them Mohammad Rizwan and Faheem Ashraf delivered according to the expectations to help Pakistan get 100 extra runs in each innings,” observed Misbah.

“This was a situation that Pakistan had seen when Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood were in the team and batting superbly in lower order to boost the innings. Thank God, Faheem and Rizwan are emerging as useful members and I have all the praise for them,” Misbah said.

To a question about the failure of opening batsmen Imran Butt and Abid Ali, too, Misbah said it was a worrying factor that Pakistan’s openers were constantly struggling.

“But they all are talented and unluckily going through sketchy form. So instead of sidelining them we will try to boost their morale and regain good form as they are the only back-up available at the top along with Abdullah Shafiq and Imam-ul-Haq,” he said.

When reminded that chief selector Mohammad Wasim had said in a media talk that Imam had been confined to just ODI cricket, Misbah said: “Let’s see what the situation demands in future.”

It must be mentioned here that Misbah has lost control over selection matters after he stepped down as chief selector before the South Africa series and he is simply performing the head coach duties as of now.

When asked if he felt relieved after the Test series win since his and bowling coach Waqar Younis’ jobs were apparently on the line after the disastrous New Zealand tour, Misbah said: “What is coming in the media and what the committee is saying makes no difference. I do not take any pressure of such things. I believe you just need to concentrate on your work as no one has any control over the future.

“Yes, there was some frustration when we lost matches from winning situations like in England or when we were on verge of pulling off a draw against New Zealand. Obviously you have set some targets ahead and when you do not achieve those, it can be disappointing,” admitted Misbah.

“But our morale is high and we are in a good mindset. Though you can’t underestimate any team in T20 cricket where a few overs can change the situation of the match. South Africa is a good side but we will try and give our best to win the series,” he said.

He said another the plus point of Pakistan’s performance against South Africa was that his boys are playing on their home soil which is a great boost. “First of all South Africans are visiting Pakistan after a long time and Test cricket has also resumed in the country which is fantastic to see,” said Misbah.

“Our boys are getting opportunities after a long time to excel on home soil, which is an important factor to develop the players for international cricket.”

He said Pakistan will surely miss seasoned players like Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez who were not included for different reasons but a good number of talented players are there such as Rizwan, Haider Ali, Usman Qadir and Hussain Talat.

He said both Sharjeel Khan and Azam Khan are talented but there was a need to understand that every player had to meet the set standards of fitness and his management was ready to work with both of them after the end of the series.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2021