Wellington Test: Misbah-ul-Haq calls for an all out effort
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 has called for a total team effort in the second Test against New Zealand set to start at Basin Reserve in Wellington on Saturday.
The tourists won the opening match at Hamilton and are now aiming to win the second Test and record a clean sweep against the Kiwis.
He was elated with his team’s performance in the first game and wants more of the same when the two teams lock horns in the second Test at a venue where the hosts have a poor record of late.
He opined that the pace of the game has changed leaps and bounds and a Test match is rarely drawn in modern era. The middle-order batsman who holds a business management degree also stated that his team can be surprised by the hosts as
they have the ability to beat any team in home conditions, hence complacency should be the last thing on the minds of his players.
“Our opponents, no doubt, will push us hard, as they will be going into the second Test on the back of a heavy defeat. They will be looking to level the series. We need to be wary of the fact that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 will come hard at us. We will
need to work even harder and ensure that we are even more focused in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864,” Misbah said.
One aspect that worries Misbah is the inability of the batsmen to convert their starts into big scores. In 2010, only two Pakistani batsmen scored hundreds from 10 Test matches which is even less than what http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 achieved in the same
period.
Even at Hamilton, the top and middle order threw away many starts with Misbah himself falling in the 60s.
“If you look at our batting in the first Test, a lot of us got starts and nobody went on to score a hundred,” Misbah said. “What I would like to see is for our batsmen, myself included, to ensure that we make full use of our good starts,
and ensure that we bat for long periods.”
Meanwhile the first Test was marred by a couple of poor umpiring decisions. The Pakistani captain wants the International Cricket Council to implement the Umpire Decision Review System across all Tests. He feels that the technology has
made a real impression and should be implemented around the world to ensure its effectiveness.
The start of 2011 has been pleasing for Misbah who besides the Hamilton win was named http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-c89347 Afridi’s deputy for the six-match One Day series that follows the Wellington Test.
The Faisalabad player was dropped from the Twenty20 team that played three matches before the Tests in New Zealand, but a strong performance at Hamilton has brought him back in the reckoning for the ICC World Cup 2011.
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