Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, credited his side’s bowlers following their 248-run victory against New Zealand in the first Test in Abu Dhabi. The victory was Pakistan’s third successive one in the UAE and came soon after they had thumped Australia 2-0.
The most experienced bowler in Pakistan’s line-up was Mohammad Hafeez, and the most experienced specialist bowler was Rahat Ali, who was playing his ninth Test. Misbah said it was commendable that a largely inexperienced attack had thrived on surfaces where more experienced bowlers had struggled.
“The kind of conditions we are getting, the world-class bowlers are struggling but these youngsters are living up to the expectations of the team, me and the whole nation,” Misbah said. “They are getting 20 wickets every match. So that’s a really big achievement for them.
“You can’t say these are spinning tracks and that’s why we are getting wickets. The fast bowlers are really chipping in and they are doing a wonderful job. These are the same pitches where the top-class bowlers are struggling.”
Misbah praised left-arm fast bowler Rahat Ali, who finished with a six-wicket haul in the game. Rahat’s 4 for 22 in the first innings was vital to keeping New Zealand to 262 and came after he had taken only four wickets in the series against Australia.
The win made Misbah Pakistan’s most successful Test captain and he said he was honoured to be in the company of legendary cricketers like Imran Khan and Javed Miandad.
“It sounds great, because you could say the names – Imran Khan, Javed Miandad those are the greats of Pakistan. But if I am at the top, it’s something I could not really think of,” Misbah said. “It’s great to know that. I am happy about that.”
Despite the huge margin of victory, Misbah refused to call it an easy win and said he was mostly happy because the team had not squandered momentum from the 2-0 series win against Australia.
“I think overall nothing is easy but it looked easy at the end. But you could say the team really played well, every individual held on to his responsibility and we stuck to our basics. We performed really well, like we performed against Australia, so we just kept that momentum and those performances intact. That was the key for us – that at the end, it looked easy. But nothing is easy in life and especially in cricket.”
