KARACHI: Former Test cricketer and chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed Sallu on Monday hailed Pakistan’s fighting victory over England in Dubai to go one-up in the three match series.

Talking to Dawn, Sallu said Misbah-ul-Haq and his men proved mentally stronger than England in the end despite the gallant fightback staged by the losing side.

“The situation required our players to remain focused and show guts which they did to emerge as winners, full credit to them for that,” said Sallu.

“While nothing can be taken away from England for the manner in which they took the fight to Pakistan, especially their lower order players. I salute our bowlers Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Imran Khan and Zulfiqar Baber for not losing hope and delivering for their team when it mattered the most.”

Hailing Misbah’s leadership in the trying conditions, Sallu said the skipper deserved high praise for keeping the team motivated in face of gallant fightback by Alastair Cook’s army.

“Misbah was wonderful today, bucking up his charges during the stoic resistance offered by Joe Root and Company, and making intelligent moves which paid off in the end.”

Commenting on the third Test line-up, Sallu said Shan Masood could make way for Azhar Ali who is back with the team now.

“Either Azhar or Ahmed Shehzad will come in and that is the only change I see for the third Test, although Shoaib Malik also remained off colour in Dubai,” said Sallu.

“But the main thing is that after going one up now, the confidence of our players is boosted and they can surely pull off a 2-0 victory in the series.”

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2015

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