Abu Dhabi: Pakistan captain Misbah ul-Haq has backed the selection of Mohammad Hafeez in the Test squad for the series against Sri Lanka.
Hafeez scored three centuries and amassed 468 runs in five one-day matches against Sri Lanka and Misbah expressed confidence that the batsman would carry the momentum into the Tests. “I think Hafeez can come good because, as a batsman, you need to have the confidence and, at the moment, he has that confidence behind him. It will be same sort of pitches; nothing much in the UAE pitches especially, in terms of swing and seam. So I think, he can,” said the 39-year-old, after losing the last inconsequential match of the ODI series by two wickets on Friday.
In a year that has seen players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers score some breathtaking centuries, the Pakistan skipper leads the table in terms of batting aggregates in 2013. Misbah has scored 15 half centuries but failed to crack a single ton. His best was an unbeaten 96 against West Indies in June but he has accumulated 1,373 runs from 32 innings at an average of 73.54. Hafeez’s three back-to-back centuries put him behind his captain, capping a rollercoaster year for him.
Though many have been critical of Misbah’s inability to reach the three-figure-mark, the veteran said his role in the team was different.
“A 100 is always a 100, and as long as I score 50s for the sake of the team, it is really good. Still, I think I’m happy about whatever I have achieved in 2013,” said Misbah adding that, coming lower down in the batting order hadn’t helped him much in terms of getting the opportunity for big innings.
“The youngsters really struggled when they came at five and six. That’s why I come in the No. 5 spot because it is really a pressure situation. Normally, I have come in at a time when the team has lost quick wickets and you need to build a partnership. That’s why I stuck to that number,” Misbah said.
Despite Pakistan winning a record seven bilateral series this season, Misbah was of the view that the year had been a testing one for his team.
“It was a tough year to say but, at the end, if you see, the last two series wins against South Africa and now Sri Lanka is very special. So that was a good display but overall we have also struggled in between. However, the good thing is we have finished very well,” he added.
Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews and his team won the last match to reduce the margin of loss in the series to 3-2. However, more than that, he was hoping that the victory would provide the much needed boost going into the Test series.
“We were good enough to get over the line today but I would say we were nowhere near our best. Little bit disappointed that the guys who got the starts didn’t build on it and it made it difficult for the tailenders,” said Mathews. “The wicket was spinning and we lost a couple of wickets. Suddenly, it became a seasaw type of a game. The win should inspire us ahead of the Test series.”
