The Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq sounded upbeat about his sides chances in the tournament, which also includes India, Sri Lanka and the hosts Bangladesh. Upon his team’s arrival at Dhaka for Asia Cup, Misbah was full of confidence that his team has the ability to make a strong comeback in the Asia Cup starting from March 11 in Bangladesh.
Cricket followers in Pakistan are demoralised after their side lost the One-Day Series to England 4-0. However, Misbah has urged the nation not to worry as he has faith in his players to bounce back from the humiliation. The skipper of the Men in Green believes that there is nothing wrong with Pakistani team and are quite balanced. They just had one bad series that alls and will not make the same mistakes over again.
He said: “We failed to perform at our best against England. But the team will not repeat the same mistakes. There is nothing to be too worried about after the failure against England because the same team performed well last year. Our team is balanced and I am confident we will bounce back strongly.” Pakistan will be playing their first series under the guidance of Dav Whatmore, the former Australian cricketer who has recently been appointed the coach of the team. Younus Khan, the mainstay in Pakistan’s batting order, thinks that the team will have no issue playing under Whatmore’s stewardship, as he won’t be the team’s first foreign coach. He said, “I don’t see any player having issues with the new coach. We have played under a foreign coach in the past as well.”
The Men in Green kick-off their Asia Cup campaign against the hosts Bangladesh on Sunday, March 11 at Mirpur. It will be followed by a match against Sri Lanka on March 15.
Pakistan Squad: Misbah-ul Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Hammad Azam, Asad Shafiq, Shahid Afridi, Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Riaz. Team management: Naveed Akram Cheema (Team Manager), Dave Whatmore (Head Coach), Julian Fountain (Fielding Coach), Faisal Hayat Khan (Physiotherapist), Saboor Ahmed (Trainer), Waseem Ahmed Shahid (Security Manager), Talha Butt (Analyst) and Malang Ali (Masseur).
Misbah confident team will bounce back strongly
