Afghanistan can be a worthy competitor

Sharjah: For Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq his team's seven-wicket triumph over his neighbours Afghanistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday night was not just another victory.

It was a triumph over a spirited team that were out to prove themselves as a power in world cricket. He gave the biggest compliment to them by stating that they can give a tough time to some of the big nations.

"Afghanistan can give a tough time to Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and even better teams. All they need is a bit more experience. If they can get to play more cricket against good teams in the world they are going to improve drastically," said Misbah, who cracked an unbeaten 40 in his unbeaten 99-run partnership with unconquered Younus Khan (70) to ensure the victory over Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan can be a dangerous team in Twenty20 and in one-day games. They can still improve and they have excellent fighting spirit. They also put in a lot of effort in fielding. In future they can become a very good side. The way this team played made me really happy. They have some really good exciting cricketers and it is a good beginning for them," added Misbah.

Strengths

Elaborating on the potential of the Afghanistan team, Misbah said: "Their fast bowlers bowled really well, and their off spinner [Mohammad Nabi] was very good. Their batting start was also very good. On this wicket batting was not easy so a score of 195 is really good because even Sri Lanka had struggled for runs on this wicket against us."

Misbah went on to praise Shahid Afridi who took five wickets. He rated him as one of the best. "The wicket was flat, so it was tough. It was so slow it did not help spinners either but Shahid Afridi bowled brilliantly on it. To take five wickets on this wicket was not easy. It was indeed great that our pacers also bowled well. Altogether it was a good performance but against England we need to work harder and improve more. Afridi has shown he is a match winner. In the last two to three series, in almost all matches, he has produced outstanding performances. So undoubtedly he is one of the best bowlers in one-day cricket today."

Misbah also acknowledged the large turn-out for the match. "It was very good to see so many fans coming out to support Afghanistan. It is a good sign. Both the teams enjoyed the contest mainly due to the crowd. Even against big teams you don't get this kind of crowd response," he said.

When asked whether he is upset over Saeed Ajmal going wicketless, Misbah said, "Ajmal is a very good bowler. Credit goes to the Afghanistan batsmen who really played him very well. He is our match winner and top class bowler. I think he can perform against any team and he has proved it."