Sharjah: Pakistan skipper Misbah UL Haq expressed his deep disappointment at not recording a clean sweep over the lowly-ranked West Indies.
“It was disappointing that we didn’t win. Overall we didn’t play up to our standard and it was bad performance in batting and even the fielding didn’t support either. West Indies played with discipline and we went on making mistakes and lost it,” he confessed.
Misbah even candidly admitted that the cardinal rule of respecting the opposition was not followed by his team. “It was important to take every game as important. When you are the No. 1 and No. 2 team then you have to play every match at a certain standard for the sake of one’s reputation in the world. But overall when you have a longish series then sometimes, somewhere you tend to get relaxed, and I think this is exactly what happened with us. We probably didn’t respect the opposition which is why we were troubled in early matches and now in this third Test we made a lot of mistakes.”
When asked whether this defeat will have an impact on the coming series against New Zealand and Australia, Misbah said: “Going into next two series we know how tough the series will be for us. But we also know we are capable and when we play to our full potential we can win anywhere in the world. We have lost the momentum but we have to regain (it) and we have to work very hard for it.”
However to lose a Test match in Sharjah, considered Pakistan’s favourite ground, was disappointing. “It’s a setback losing a Test match in your own conditions where you are so good and that too to a low-ranked Test team. No matter how good they play, obviously you really need to come back strongly after that.”
Misbah came in for criticism over the inclusion of Mohammad Nawaz who has not been impressive. Calling for patience, Misbah said: “He has played good innings at number seven and is a capable bowler, but you need time. Test cricket is cricket where you need time to understand. If you want to establish a player then you need to give him time. It is his first series so he needs time. Potential wise he is capable, he can do with both bat and ball. He also works hard; we need someone who can bat well at number seven and bowl. Every team has such a player. Even Jason Holder has such a player — even other teams have too, but you need to show patience for a player to settle down.”
Though Misbah lost the Test match, the fact is he gave another series win for Pakistan. When asked how it feels to be the longest-serving Pakistan captain, he said: “It’s always an honour and a good feeling, but for me winning is important. Winning a series for your country and how you perform is the key. I am happy that I have been the longest surviving captain, but winning is more important for me than anything else.”
