Beating England at ‘home of cricket’ was special, says Misbah

Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq said that beating England at the ‘Home of Cricket’ in the first Test was ‘special’. The Green Caps stunned the hosts in the opening Test to secure a 75-run victory on Friday, which was their first on the venue in 20 years.

Misbah, who scored the only century of the match, and also became the fourth Pakistan captain after Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram to secure victory at one of the most iconic venue of the cricketing world, also described why the team did pushups after securing a historic triumph. “To defeat England at Lord’s is special,” said Misbah in an interview. “For me as captain, this win at Lord’s is special in many ways, as it was after the spot-fixing scandal on this venue, after which I was appointed as the Test captain and we started rebuilding the team.

“The win was also important because of the hard work the army trainers put in with us during the camp in Kakul. The pushups were our way of acknowledging their contribution in the preparation of this tour.”

The 42-year old batsman, who became the oldest player in 82 years to score a century at Lord’s, also praised his players for the team’s success in the longest format of the game in the recent years. “Pakistan cricket has not had it easy in the last six years with teams also refusing to play in Pakistan because of the security issues,” he said. “But I am proud of my players that they have braved it out and faced all these problems manfully and kept on producing the goods.”

The Islamabad United captain, who is already the most successful captain in history of Pakistan cricket in Test format, also emphasised that there is a lot of cricket still to be played and England have all the tools to bounce back in the series. “The series is not over yet,” he added. “There are still three more Tests to go, and England are a very good side.

“They are particularly good in their own conditions, and we know we have some tough sessions ahead of us and the series is still wide open.”