Misbah-ul-Haq's Test fortress is breached. Will we ever become as good at home again?

[Kohli The King of Chase]

Is UAE now becoming a losing forte for Pakistan Test team?

We all know how good Pakistan used to play in U.A.E.

But, this is changing rapidly.

In last 12 months, Pakistan have played 6 test matches.

3 at home(U.A.E) vs (SL & AUS)
3 away (ENG & IRE)

In U.A.E: Out of 3, Pakistan have lost 2 and drew one.
Not a single win in 3 at home , which was their hunting ground .


Whereas in English conditions, they've won 2 out of 3.

I won't be surprised if Pakistan win one match in SA.

The sooner Pakistan move out of U.A.E, the better.

Especially these pitches don't suit current bowling of Pakistan. And, Yasir who's been their weapon is losing his magic.

 

[Zakaz]

yes we definitely need to move out of UAE before UAE kills our cricket. UAE grounds are nothing but cancer for Pakistan team. We should move to either malaysia, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka until cricket returns back home.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

UAE suited Misbah and his tuk tuk team. Current team can't play tests on UAE. Sarfraz doesn't have patience to guide bowlers to take 20 wickets.

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

Once Pakistan used to defeat teams left right and centre, in U.A.E but, now couldn't buy a single win.

How times change.

 

[Fineline]

UAE suited Misbah and his tuk tuk team. Current team can't play tests on UAE. Sarfraz doesn't have patience to guide bowlers to take 20 wickets.

Yeah we can see how aggressive our players have become under GOAT Sarfaraz MA!

 

[Fineline]

Once Pakistan used to defeat teams left right and centre, in U.A.E but, now couldn't buy a single win.

How times change.

More like how captains change!

 

[Indiafan]

Misbah was a good test captain

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

UAE was never a fortress honestly.

Pakistan never lost a series in UAE (before SL) but they hardly dominated which is what a few of the posters have been saying all along.

They had to fight tooth and nail to draw the series in 2014 or 2015 when SL toured them (scoring 300 on the last day).

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Pakistan should stop playing in UAE.

This is bad for our future cricket plans. Don't see point of playing there

 

[Buffet]

Pakistan didn't lose series earlier, but hardly dominated teams in UAE.

 

[the_outsider]

Pakistan should stop playing in UAE.

This is bad for our future cricket plans. Don't see point of playing there

That would mean they would have to stop playing test cricket altogether because I don't see any other remaining country where Pakistan can set up base now. So, come what may, Pakistan has to make it work in the UAE.

 

[goran]

We should be seriously looking at some other options for our home series. But to be honest, it's a catch-22 situation since moving out of UAE will not be financially viable. I personally believe UK would be an ideal choice as a base.

 

[the_outsider]

We should be seriously looking at some other options for our home series. But to be honest, it's a catch-22 situation since moving out of UAE will not be financially viable. I personally believe UK would be an ideal choice as a base.

I don't think ECB will be keen to bring Pakistan back in given their history. So I don't see any way of that happening. Frankly, next best option is Canada. Which is also unlikely so as far as I can see, it's going to be UAE for the next 5 years.

 

[Hawkeye]

Changing venues is not possible. After Misbah, this team is on a Tests losing streak even in the UAE.

You'd always have confidence in Misbah that he'd strangle the opposition and extract a victory. No such thing from Sarfraz.


Moving to the UK is also not possible. Too expensive, too many matches there already, and our board has a bad history.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Pakistan will be exposed more against new zealand who have latham, williamson taylor who will get runs and i can see black csp bowlere exposing our batting aswell

 

[Hawkeye]

This is unacceptable. No top Test team gets humiliated at home like we're getting thrashed.

First a Test series loss to Sri Lanka out of all teams!

And now.. a loss to even Australia looks like. FIVE down at 50!!! Can you imagine Pak crumbling like this in Asia, against an overseas team?

We don't even have proper spin players. Younis Khan and Misbah were the rescue 911 the last 5-8 years.

We have nobody now. What's going to be our Test future?

 

[MenInG]

Is home advantage in the UAE merely a fantasy for Pakistan?

Whilst other teams are busy making their home venues impregnable fortresses, we seem to be making them welcoming places for the opposition.

Or maybe it's just a case of Pakistan not being good enough.

Whilst we could well end up as winners in this Test, I am still not clear why Sarfaraz Ahmed and co are struggling to win any Tests in the UAE

 

[Hawkeye]

Whilst other teams are busy making their home venues impregnable fortresses, we seem to be making them welcoming places for the opposition.

Or maybe it's just a case of Pakistan not being good enough.

Whilst we could well end up as winners in this Test, I am still not clear why Sarfaraz Ahmed and co are struggling to win any Tests in the UAE

Agree.

Unthinkable. How woeful we have become at "home" aka UAE.

We weren't this bad! Or maybe we were, and our deficiencies were hidden by Younis and Misbah.

Asad Shaiq, Azhar ALi, Babar Azam.. what duds against spin!

 

[Ab Fan]

Bring back Younis!

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

Poor, utter disgrace this.

Quit UAE nd star playing in Scotland or ENG

 

[gazza619]

Bring back Younis!

and Misbah

 

[Madplayer]

I think the team which Mickey is building isnt suited to these conditions. Mickey is building a team which can perform on the normal pitches which we see everywhere in the world. However, the pitches in UAE are nothing like them.

Misbah's defensive mindset is actually needed in tests on these picthes. However, that has downside of affecting LOI performances as well (which arent great these days anyway).

 

[Hawkeye]

"First time a team has lost five wickets before lunch on the first day at Abu Dhabi. "

 

[Hawkeye]

I think the team which Mickey is building isnt suited to these conditions. Mickey is building a team which can perform on the normal pitches which we see everywhere in the world. However, the pitches in UAE are nothing like them.

Misbah's defensive mindset is actually needed in tests on these picthes. However, that has downside of affecting LOI performances as well (which arent great these days anyway).

Our LOI performances were better or as good as current time under Misbah. He had a much worse pool of players as well.

The tactics in Tests were not "defensive'. They were shrewd tactics to WIN you matches. Defense means DRAW.

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

Bring in Saad and Saud and move ur base to England or Malaysia if possible

 

[Zakaz]

misbah and younis need to be called back, definitely would still be better than the jokers we have in the team now, seriously 57/5 after batting first at abu dhabi?

 

[Markhor]

And yet we had folks claiming Younis and Misbah were "holding us back" and preventing the young Laras and Bradmans on the bench from getting their chance.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

And yet we had folks claiming Younis and Misbah were "holding us back" and preventing the young Laras and Bradmans on the bench from getting their chance.

Oh yeah, I remember the times. We had daily posts bashing Misbah and YK with powerpoints and all .

 

[Hawkeye]

And yet we had folks claiming Younis and Misbah were "holding us back" and preventing the young Laras and Bradmans on the bench from getting their chance.

) )

To some extent, that may have been true for LOIs (especially for YK).

But.. both were absolute Pak legends in Tests. And one of the best when it comes to captaining a Test side.

 

[ARK Rafay]

These are some really dark times indeed. I smell something much bigger is on its way for Pakistan.

 

[Sidilicious]

1 poor innings and the knives are out!

You guys have a young team which needs to be backed.

 

[Hawkeye]

1 poor innings and the knives are out!

You guys have a young team which needs to be backed.

Not one poor innings. Series loss to Sri Lanka. The first test, that too against a depleted Aussie side we couldn't win.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

People are talking as if Pakistan come to UAE and are batting at 5-6 runs an over.

We all saw how they batted in Dubai at under 3 an over for 165 overs.

Pakistan just fail to pick up the right deliveries and then their shot selection has been extremely awful to say the least.

 

[Fahdi]

Azhar who was supposed to be our leading batsman has been failing miserably. Shafiq is still performing at the same consistency(which is not very consistent). Sarfraz has been poor with the bat ever since captaincy.

Now go back a few years when we had Misbah who was very consistent in UAE conditions, Younis and Azhar were Run Machines and Sarfraz was being dubbed as the best wicketkeeper batsman in the world by some.

Even then we had collapses in the UAE. We suffered a collapse against South Africa, We lost a test to New Zealand(might have lost two had it not been abandoned), We weren't exactly great against Sri Lanka either.

 

[the_outsider]

I think the team which Mickey is building isnt suited to these conditions. Mickey is building a team which can perform on the normal pitches which we see everywhere in the world. However, the pitches in UAE are nothing like them.

Misbah's defensive mindset is actually needed in tests on these picthes. However, that has downside of affecting LOI performances as well (which arent great these days anyway).

SL is building a team that can win at home and in UAE. Australians are building a team that can dominate at home and compete in Asia. Even WI is building a team that can win at home and in UAE.

But Mickey is busy building a team that can only win in England. Maybe he should be coaching the England team, instead.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

1 poor innings and the knives are out!

You guys have a young team which needs to be backed.

You do realize this Aus test team has no Hazlewood, Warner and Smith right? Half the Aussie batting line up is made of mediocre hacks. In Asia this team is weaker than Bangladesh.

 

[Hasan123]

Misbah knew how to read conditions in the UAE and knew exactly how to use the bowlers as well.

 

[Markhor]

It's the batsmen not the venue.

These guys failed dismally in NZ too.

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

It's the batsmen not the venue.

These guys failed dismally in NZ too.

Yeah but their play is worse than pace play.

Your batting did well in Aus and Eng(twice)

The current players look clueless against Spin. Against pace, even though they're not that good they still are aware of what to expect.

 

[rudra]

Pak's 2008-17 record in UAE was more formidable than in pak itself.
Hope ppers dont cry now about not having home advantage.

 

[Big Mac]

I don't see the problem. Yeah we're 118/5 but look at how modern that run rate is

 

[the_outsider]

Poor, utter disgrace this.

Quit UAE nd star playing in Scotland or ENG

That won't change much for this team. People are forgetting that even in England, PCT lost the 2nd match by an innings. Even Ireland had managed to put them under immense pressure having them 3 down for nothing while chasing 160. If it wasn't for Imam's batting, Pak might have actually lost a test to Ireland!

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

That won't change much for this team. People are forgetting that even in England, PCT lost the 2nd match by an innings. Even Ireland had managed to put them under immense pressure having them 3 down for nothing while chasing 160. If it wasn't for Imam's batting, Pak might have actually lost a test to Ireland!

I agree it wouldn't change much. But, it won't be this disgraceful.

Also, will have a good practice in those pacey conditions.

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

With the strategies being used no. The fortress was created by Misbah's patient strategies, tiring out the opposition with bat and ball, doesn't seem to be the case with this crop of players.

 

[Pakhs]

They will eventually get back to what they were doing in UAE. So yes I think long term they will more games here than they will lose. What we are seeing in the last 2 series is an after effect of losing Misbah and Younis together who were really GUN scorers in UAE.

 

[Pakhs]

Post Misbah and Younis retirement effect

I can see there are many threads and posters are giving various reasons for Pakistan struggles in UAE in this series and also the Srilankan one. But really its the after effects of Misbah and Younis retirement which most of us expected. Those two were GUN players in UAE and Misbah also knew how to operate his team here. It was always going to take some time replacing them specially in UAE.

 

[Fahdi]

I don't see the problem. Yeah we're 118/5 but look at how modern that run rate is

Yet the ones scoring quickly are the ones making the runs.

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan were bowled out for 99 by England in Dubai

Check the result.