Age no barrier for Misbah-ul-Haq

Dubai: Pakistan team coach Waqar Younis feels that for his skipper Misbah-ul-Haq age is not a barrier. Answering to a query from Gulf News whether Misbah is getting better with age, Waqar said: “That is what we have been saying for the last three years now. I guess it is his determination, he wants to carry on playing. I don’t think age is a barrier, if you are fit and still can manage the modern ways of cricket ... then why not. I think the knock he played today is a very good knock and it was a captain’s knock and when wickets fell he became more responsible.”

Waqar, who has even played alongside Misbah, is not surprised at his skipper reaching his century in the last over with two sixes and a reverse sweep. “I think he has done that a few times. I don’t really know but that is the way he plays. I think he believes in that when you are near an interval or close to end of the game people bring the fielders in and he is comfortable hitting over the top, He has done it before as well, this is not the first time,” he said.

Waqar is happy with not only Misbah’s performance but also veteran Younis Khan, who hit a half century. “I think it was a good day although we had hiccups early on but a mature 93 run partnership between Misbah and Younis was special. In the end Misbah handled things very well. He accelerated the innings when needed and when it was needed to control he did that brilliantly. It was purely a captain’s knock.”

Talking about the veterans Younis and Misbah, Waqar added: “We have expectations from both the seniors and they are experienced players. The numbers [position] at which they play we expect them to score runs and they both showed responsibility.”

Does Waqar think that this series will also be the last series for Misbah? “He [Misbah] has said it before the series but you never know that this might be his last series so he wants to make the most of it. We don’t know what he wants to do but of course the way he is batting Pakistan need him.”

Waqar went on to say that rarely can one see cricketers around the age of Misbah. “You don’t see many cricketers of this age still around. He wants to keep scoring badly there is nothing else to talk to him, he only talks cricket and wants to carry on so why not.”

England pacer Mark Wood when asked about Misbah’s ton said: “I had a good battle with him today, tried to be aggressive at him but he dealt with it really well and came out with a hundred. I guess that’s 1-0 to him and I’ll have to try again tomorrow.”

When Gulf News asked if it was the experience of Misbah or Younis Khan that helped Pakistan today, Wood said: “As a bowler I appreciate and have respect that they are great players. You have to try different things to try and get them out. My personal role was to try and be more aggressive today, but they showed their class and dealt with the situation well. If we had got another quick wicket then we could have been right in, but they calmed the situation down and played really well.”

Wood went on to admit that it was frustrating for England. “Pretty frustrated, I think we’ve bowled well as a group. I don’t think we can be too disheartened, we can hold our head up high. We’ve put in the effort, they’ve played well and sometimes that happens.”