dav whatmore, misbah-ul-haq, misbah whatmore, pakistan cricket, pakistan india odi series, pakistan india series, pakistan's tour of india
“I think Dav (Whatmore) has done well with us and he has brought about a change in our attitude. The most positive thing about him is that he always backs the captain and players.” -Photo by AFP

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has credited coach Dav Whatmore for a change in the attitude of his players, adding that the Australian was one of the main reasons the team kept their composure during the high-pressure tour of India.

“Playing in India is all about handling the pressure and I think we did very well as a unit with the support staff also working well with the players. I thought Whatmore did well although it was the first time he was involved in a bilateral Indo-Pak series,” Misbah said upon his return from India where his side drew the T20 series 1-1 before winning the ODI series 2-1.

Misbah rubbished criticism against Whatmore who, according to some former players, did not seem ‘too involved’ with the team.

“I think Dav (Whatmore) has done well with us and he has brought about a change in our attitude. The most positive thing about him is that he always backs the captain and players.

“A coach must be judged by his work professionally as the onus is on him to improve the team's performance, get results and groom players. It really doesn't matter which country he belongs to as long as the team benefits from him,” the skipper said of Whatmore, a former Australian Test cricketer.

Whatmore’s tenure with Pakistan, which will complete its first year in March, has been a mixed bag and the critics have never been too far away from developments.

Whatmore's first big test came in last year's Asia Cup which Pakistan won after beating Bangladesh in the final. A tour of Sri Lanka followed where Misbah’s men lost both the ODI and Test series.

It was a similar tale against Australia in the ODI series in UAE but under Hafeez’s captaincy, Pakistan beat Australia in the T20 series that followed and also reached the semis of the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka.

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