-File photo

LAHORE: Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt has hailed the performance of the Pakistan team, especially of its captain Misbah-ul-Haq and bowlers Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul in the first Test which England lost by ten wickets.

“The entire team worked very hard to achieve this convincing victory, but the way Misbah led the boys is the main factor behind this big achievement and similarly the individual performances of Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul deserve high praise,” Ijaz told Dawn.

“The PCB faced heavy criticism when we appointed Misbah as captain but now that he has proved himself by leading Pakistan superbly, we stand vindicated with our choice,” he said.

He said the team was also doing remarkably better as far as discipline was concerned and for that the entire team management including head coach Mohsin Hasan Khan and manager Naveed Akram Cheema deserved lot of credit.

Ijaz said no one was expecting such an easy win over a top side like England, but the current team achieved the unthinkable because they played like a unit.

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