Misbah to bank on spinners

Abu Dhabi: Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq was hoping that the recent 3-0 Test series win over England will not put any pressure on his team as he looks to chalk out a 14th win in his last 15 ODIs as Pakistan skipper.

"I think it's a different ballgame. We have to regain our game because Test cricket is different from one-day cricket. The team is confident after good performance in Tests and one-dayers in the last one and half years," said Misbah, admitting that pressure will always be there.

"Confidence plays an important role and when you win it increases but sometimes it is harmful for the team as well. So we have to guard against that, irrespective that we have won the Tests 3-0 we have to play very well to win," he said.

"Pressure is always there, but as a player and professional I tell my players that Tests are finished now. England will also come prepared and try to win the series so it's tough for us and we have to increase our focus. But we don't have to take pressure, we just have to stick to basics and improve our performances," Misbah said.

Different ball game

The Pakistan skipper hoped his spinners will once again dominate their rivals. "I can't say what we will do tomorrow; I think it's a totally different ball game. You find different pitches from the one you get in Tests. In one-dayers you have flat pitches but I still hope that my spinners do well."

When asked whether it would be easier to beat England in the ODI series, he said, "They are a good side and having lost their last series 5-0 [against India] doesn't mean that they are not a good side. They can perform very well on their day so we have to perform well, play good, hard cricket on the day to beat them.

"The team that plays well on the day wins so you can't say it's going to be easy or they are going to win easily."

Misbah discounted the dew factor when playing under lights and also hoped his batsmen will come good.

"The batsmen are really, really determined in doing well after the Tests, where they did not do well, so it will be a good contest.

"I don't see dew affecting and now we have two new balls so it gets time to dry up," he said.