Pakistan have seven ODIs against New Zealand to firm up their planning for the World Cup, five of which will be played first in the UAE from December 8. And for Misbah-ul-Haq, the one-day captain, the lead-up period is all about “building confidence”.
“It is the last chance for us to just look into the things, how we are going into the World Cup,” Misbah said. “So everybody will be focussed and everybody just wants to put up a good show. I always believe that confidence is the main thing.”
Younis Khan is one of those who received his captain’s support, as he makes a return to the ODI side yet again. Younis was left out for the series against Australia, but a total of 717 runs in five Tests since could not be ignored.
“The thinking is that now that we have him here, we give him full confidence, because even as a senior you require the backing,” Misbah said. “It is not right to tell him that you are playing on a trial basis. We will try that…. the way his role is, the way his performances have been, the way his form is… We will try to support him fully because he can play in a relaxed fashion. In this situation he can play a very good role for the side.
“I think he is in good touch, the way he played in the last two Test series. So, he is in good shape. That’s going to really help him. [It] doesn’t matter that he is playing in a one-day competition because he played on those same surfaces against top-quality bowlers and performed well.”
Besides contributions with the bat, Misbah is banking on Younis’ experience to help the younger players through the series.
“I think he has seen enough, he is experienced enough to handle those sort of conditions,” Misbah said. “It is always important because these kind of players, they are experienced, they know the situations of the game, they can handle those situations and whenever these sort of players are in, you can just say that ‘okay they are going to win the game for you’. He is going help other youngsters on how to just go about the game. So, it’s really important for us.”
The other player receiving a lot of support from Misbah is Mohammad Irfan, who could be the team’s X-factor at the World Cup with the bounce he generates.
“We just [want] to give him enough practice, just [want] to give him enough confidence to play the games and also just to protect him for the World Cup, because we don’t want to lose him,” Misbah said. “He will have a tremendous impact in the World Cup. In Australia he could really make a difference. So we will have to use him quite sensibly and that’s what we are trying to do.”
There has been some criticism about the way Irfan has been handled by the Pakistan thinktank. There appeared to be a strategy of wrapping the fast bowler in cotton wool to prevent him from breaking down, but Misbah was conscious of dispelling that notion.”I think we don’t protect him just for the sake of it. I think the media highlights this quite unfairly,” Misbah said, “When he doesn’t play the media says, ‘you don’t play him’, if we play him and something happens, they say ‘see what kind of people are there in the thinktank, they don’t know how to protect Irfan’.
“People are working with Irfan. He has changed a lot. Look at his fitness, specially his physique, his structure, a lot of work has happened. His fitness has improved tremendously.
“It is not that we bench him always, because if we don’t play him there is no gain,” Misbah said, “But at the same time, we want to ensure that we don’t put so much load that he becomes unfit like before. Obviously, teams plan for four years for a World Cup, so keeping that in mind, we do think about protecting him. After the World Cup, its a different scenario, even if he was to play continuously, it is not that big an issue.”
Pakistan’s other major issue is Saeed Ajmal’s suspension for an illegal bowling action. Mohammad Hafeez has also been under scrutiny, but Misbah hoped both of them would be available for the World Cup.
“We now have a chance to let the bowlers take the responsibility and the burden that Saeed endured for the last three-four years,” Misbah said. “In the two-three series that we have played without him, especially the last series, bowlers have started understanding their responsibility in difficult situations, powerplay overs or the end overs.”
“I am always positive about Saeed’s return, just looking at the way he has worked hard and looking at his confidence. I have all the good wishes for him to come back strongly at the earliest. We are hopeful that Hafeez’s action will also be free from any questions soon. But if that was not the case, then it will affect the team balance.”
