Misbah ul Haq happy with Pakistan’s performance with the bat ahead of Sri Lanka tie
Pakistan vice-captain Misbah ul Haq is happy with the performance of the middle-order batsmen in their opening match of the World Cup against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kenya-c752.
The men in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Green-c60723 recovered after a slump at the start of the innings to post a winning total of 317 with four middle order batsmen smashing half centuries.
Misbah, who was one of them, raced to 65 at almost run a ball. His innings included a single four and two sixes and was a great exhibition of how to rotate the strike on a vast expanse where maneuvering the strike was not that big
of a challenge.
The veteran has been the star of Pakistan batting in recent months; the test captain has been in the form of his life reeling off one fifty after another in both formats of the game ever since the test series against South African
in the UAE.
He scored three fifties on the trot in that contest saving http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 scoring four consecutive fifties including a brilliant 99 in the second
test of the series at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864. He scored another memorable unbeaten 90 odd to lead the team to a thrilling win in a One Day International match at Napier.
On the eve of Pakistan’s second game against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, Misbah stated that there was a lot of self-belief in the team and the squad has gelled in fantastically for the tournament.
At the personal level he is glad with is form and looking forward to carrying it on in the games to come.
“I've always said it is important for any player to get some self-belief and confidence back. You start scoring runs, the team starts believing in you and people's expectations of you increase and that gives you self-belief. And as
your confidence builds your performance gets better. The player actually remains the same before and after, but with confidence higher, you perform better,” he said.
Misbah added that he was thoroughly enjoying his current form. At the age of 36 he knows that he does not have a lot of cricketing years left, yet whatever he can achieve at the f*g end would make him happy.
“I think whatever cricket you do play you should think about that. I am enjoying it at the moment, I have always enjoyed playing it, domestically or internationally and I only want to do what I can for the side.”
Misbah's return has helped the Men in Green muster up good totals in the 50 overs format in the past 12 months. In 20 ODIs that they have played in Sri Lanka, England, the UAE and New Zealand, Pakistan have made 250 runs or more 13
times.
The star batsman would have to up the ante in the knock-out phase when there will be more pressure on him to perform. At the same time the opposition would know that he is the vital cog in what is generally a brittle batting line-up.
Teams like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 would be chalking out a strategy to counter his threat, and that is where his real test would lie.
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