Abdullah719
T20I Captain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Runs
- 44,825
Misbah presser on Australia squad announcement:
"Australia, England, SA, your performances here are noticed. I want us to go to Australia and play good, competitive and aggressive cricket, that is the only way to beat Australia there. Our strategy is also based on that, we want to have some surprise packages in our team so we can challenge Australia, whether that's T20 or Test cricket"
"Naseem Shah and Musa Khan's pace and attitude towards fast-bowling is something worth seeing"
"We believe in these players and insha'Allah they are our future. If you go to Australia and compete then it's fire against fire. You need those type of bowlers and talent, like we are on the receiving end with pace, we should challenge them in the same way"
"Some experienced players have been brought back in based on domestic performances"
"Our domestic matches have been considered and we had discussions with the coaches and selectors, and also the two captains, and after that the squad has been assembled"
"We aim to play fearless cricket in Australia and win"
"There's no such thing that we are selecting a young team and we'll return tomorrow and make excuses. We are confident in these players and we believe this is the way forward. We trust that these players will go and perform"
"A lot of things have been said in the media regarding captaincy and Sarfaraz. The chairman, Wasim Khan and myself had a lot of discussion on this matter, we looked at all these things and analysed them. The final constitutional decision regarding captaincy is with the Chairman. There are all kinds of strange theories in the media but it's a simple thing, like the Chairman also said: Over Sarfaraz's form, and the pressure he was playing under, it was on the basis of that that the decision to remove Sarfaraz from captaincy was taken. We have always backed him, he is a good enough player, he has done a lot for Pakistan and he has performances as captain also, but this decision was taken on the basis of his recent form. Regarding a comeback, it's straightforward. Domestic cricket is happening, it's just a matter of regaining his form. Once that happens, the doors are open. There is no conspiracy against him, this is a clear message for Sarfaraz as well as everyone else"
"Pakistan's last series was in SA and our standout batsman was Shan Masood. His form is a concern but he hit a hundred in his last FC game so he is back in form in the long format. Considering how he played on bouncy pitches in SA, there will be similar conditions in Aus and hopefully he does well. He is a good back-foot player so keeping all this in mind, he has been kept in the team. We also have other options like Abid Ali who has come in. There's healthy competition, there's many openers who are scoring runs. Imam has also hit a hundred and is batting well, thus these players were given preference"
"Some decisions, you have to take no matter what, you can't rest on your laurels. If you look at the problems we have, we don't have backups because we didn't take a chance, we were always scared of losing series. So these decisions we've taken, we've brought in youngsters who are performing. These players have talent and you can tell they can take the team forward. The 140+ pace and aggression which is missing, and our bowling is in downfall so to put energy in it again, we need to take these steps. Until you don't take a decision and move forward, you won't get results"
"Usman Qadir is playing and in T20, there is a spark in his bowling. He has some experience of playing in Australia in the BBL. All the white ball cricket he's played, he has some zip in his bowling. He has an advantage due to height and he has variations, a good flipper, googly, leg-spin is also good. Considering that we're facing an issue with our wrist-spin backup and his experience in Australia, we picked him in the team and we're also keeping the T20 World Cup in Australia in mind"
"Musa and Naseem are playing FC cricket, they are fit enough for 4-day and Test cricket. Hasnain's fitness and conditioning towards the longer format, based on what the physio and trainer have told us: we need to work on him after the Australia tour and build him up gradually towards bowling 12, 14, 16 overs, even before playing FC cricket. According to the physio, if we put him in FC cricket before readying him, he can get a long-term injury after playing 1-2 matches. After the Australia tour, he will come back and do some work for 4-6 weeks and gradually he will become fitter for the longer format"
"We have a backup for Shadab and we're working on him. We are all working on his issue with his action and in the last two matches, his bowling was a bit better and there was some nip in his bowling. He is a valuable player for us, he's a livewire in the field and he can bat, and we're working on improving that as well. We brought Usman Qadir so we are also working on someone alongside Shadab"
"With Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan's biggest problem in T20s even at the domestic level, if you want to score 170-180 then you need 2-3 batsmen who can strike at 140-150. Unfortunately, in our domestic circuit, there's no batsman besides Fakhar Zaman and Asif Ali who can strike at that rate. Ahmed and other batsmen all have SRs around 120 thus we struggle to make 150+. So due to these reasons, Asif is also getting a chance besides Fakhar. Out of 6 batsmen, we want at least 2 who have SRs at this level"
"Ahmed got chances, he couldn't perform but we will monitor his performances going forward. We have time for the World Cup so we will review our team make-up"
"The doors aren't closed for anyone, we are backing youngsters. We also want to go to Australia and see that regardless of whether these guys play or not, even when they bowl in the nets in those conditions, you can get a good idea of which players can be useful for the T20 World Cup going forward. There's a lot of time until the World Cup so any player can make it to the squad"
"I haven't heard anything (about Usman Qadir applying for Australian nationality). He is playing cricket in Pakistan and is here. If he is playing here and if we feel he can be a future prospect, we will back him"
"There is no such thing (feedback from PCB regarding Salman Butt). We have picked 3 openers, they all have very good performances in domestic cricket and they have also performed at the international level. So we will see them and then others will be given chances as well when possible"
"We are thinking positively. We have backup plans. Rizwan hasn't been injured in the last 2-3 years so we're hoping he won't get injured here, plus we don't want to put pressure on him. We do have backup plans, but it's a small tour so we didn't think of taking a 2nd WK"
"Sharjeel has I think gotten permission to play club cricket. Once he plays, we'll see what happens. Regarding other players, there are many players close to selection. Rahat Ali is bowling well and has performed but at the end of the day we wanted to pick 5 pacers in the squad of 15-16. So some players were narrow misses. We will see where we need other players going forward"
"I wouldn't say we dropped Nawaz but we added an extra fast-bowler due to Australian conditions so he missed out on selection. For our white-ball cricket or any cricket, he's a very good player. In Australian conditions, you don't require too much spin backup but obviously he is in our plans going forward"
"Shan Masood has performed well recently, Imam has done well in domestics recently and Abid also made 250 so those players who are performing in domestic cricket and also have performances are the international level are being preferred. Salman Butt is also there, once one of these players goes out of contention then he can be considered"
"With Fawad Alam, we are taking one extra middle-order batsman in Iftikhar. Most teams have left-handers so once he comes into the team, we have an off spin option. Last season Fawad had more runs than Iftikhar but Iftikhar also had 3 tons and had a higher average, plus he performed as a bowler. Australia have left-handers also so that was also part of the equation"
"(Faheem dropped) In this series we're given preference to specialists, even in T20s. Pacy and young bowlers have been preferred due to their energy and we are trying to have an aggressive lineup in bowling so that we can give as good as we get"
"It's clear that we will try to play cricket in a similar way to Australia. When you make a team or go anywhere, winning is the first priority and that's what we're thinking of as well. You do leave things to Allah but we aren't thinking at all that we lose in Australia so let's just get by this series as we always lose. Our strategy is to play aggressive cricket, that will give us the best chance of winning"
"Imam if you look at his T20 stats, he's amongst the top players in the National T20 Cup with 2 MOTMs. In PSL also, he performed in the latter stages. If you look at other openers, they have a similar SR but lower averages. No other openers have really performed exceptionally with a high SR thus we kept him as a 3rd option. Fakhar and Babar are our first choice. With someone like Rizwan Hussain, he's batting in the middle-order so there isn't clarity about his batting position"
"Australia, England, SA, your performances here are noticed. I want us to go to Australia and play good, competitive and aggressive cricket, that is the only way to beat Australia there. Our strategy is also based on that, we want to have some surprise packages in our team so we can challenge Australia, whether that's T20 or Test cricket"
"Naseem Shah and Musa Khan's pace and attitude towards fast-bowling is something worth seeing"
"We believe in these players and insha'Allah they are our future. If you go to Australia and compete then it's fire against fire. You need those type of bowlers and talent, like we are on the receiving end with pace, we should challenge them in the same way"
"Some experienced players have been brought back in based on domestic performances"
"Our domestic matches have been considered and we had discussions with the coaches and selectors, and also the two captains, and after that the squad has been assembled"
"We aim to play fearless cricket in Australia and win"
"There's no such thing that we are selecting a young team and we'll return tomorrow and make excuses. We are confident in these players and we believe this is the way forward. We trust that these players will go and perform"
"A lot of things have been said in the media regarding captaincy and Sarfaraz. The chairman, Wasim Khan and myself had a lot of discussion on this matter, we looked at all these things and analysed them. The final constitutional decision regarding captaincy is with the Chairman. There are all kinds of strange theories in the media but it's a simple thing, like the Chairman also said: Over Sarfaraz's form, and the pressure he was playing under, it was on the basis of that that the decision to remove Sarfaraz from captaincy was taken. We have always backed him, he is a good enough player, he has done a lot for Pakistan and he has performances as captain also, but this decision was taken on the basis of his recent form. Regarding a comeback, it's straightforward. Domestic cricket is happening, it's just a matter of regaining his form. Once that happens, the doors are open. There is no conspiracy against him, this is a clear message for Sarfaraz as well as everyone else"
"Pakistan's last series was in SA and our standout batsman was Shan Masood. His form is a concern but he hit a hundred in his last FC game so he is back in form in the long format. Considering how he played on bouncy pitches in SA, there will be similar conditions in Aus and hopefully he does well. He is a good back-foot player so keeping all this in mind, he has been kept in the team. We also have other options like Abid Ali who has come in. There's healthy competition, there's many openers who are scoring runs. Imam has also hit a hundred and is batting well, thus these players were given preference"
"Some decisions, you have to take no matter what, you can't rest on your laurels. If you look at the problems we have, we don't have backups because we didn't take a chance, we were always scared of losing series. So these decisions we've taken, we've brought in youngsters who are performing. These players have talent and you can tell they can take the team forward. The 140+ pace and aggression which is missing, and our bowling is in downfall so to put energy in it again, we need to take these steps. Until you don't take a decision and move forward, you won't get results"
"Usman Qadir is playing and in T20, there is a spark in his bowling. He has some experience of playing in Australia in the BBL. All the white ball cricket he's played, he has some zip in his bowling. He has an advantage due to height and he has variations, a good flipper, googly, leg-spin is also good. Considering that we're facing an issue with our wrist-spin backup and his experience in Australia, we picked him in the team and we're also keeping the T20 World Cup in Australia in mind"
"Musa and Naseem are playing FC cricket, they are fit enough for 4-day and Test cricket. Hasnain's fitness and conditioning towards the longer format, based on what the physio and trainer have told us: we need to work on him after the Australia tour and build him up gradually towards bowling 12, 14, 16 overs, even before playing FC cricket. According to the physio, if we put him in FC cricket before readying him, he can get a long-term injury after playing 1-2 matches. After the Australia tour, he will come back and do some work for 4-6 weeks and gradually he will become fitter for the longer format"
"We have a backup for Shadab and we're working on him. We are all working on his issue with his action and in the last two matches, his bowling was a bit better and there was some nip in his bowling. He is a valuable player for us, he's a livewire in the field and he can bat, and we're working on improving that as well. We brought Usman Qadir so we are also working on someone alongside Shadab"
"With Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan's biggest problem in T20s even at the domestic level, if you want to score 170-180 then you need 2-3 batsmen who can strike at 140-150. Unfortunately, in our domestic circuit, there's no batsman besides Fakhar Zaman and Asif Ali who can strike at that rate. Ahmed and other batsmen all have SRs around 120 thus we struggle to make 150+. So due to these reasons, Asif is also getting a chance besides Fakhar. Out of 6 batsmen, we want at least 2 who have SRs at this level"
"Ahmed got chances, he couldn't perform but we will monitor his performances going forward. We have time for the World Cup so we will review our team make-up"
"The doors aren't closed for anyone, we are backing youngsters. We also want to go to Australia and see that regardless of whether these guys play or not, even when they bowl in the nets in those conditions, you can get a good idea of which players can be useful for the T20 World Cup going forward. There's a lot of time until the World Cup so any player can make it to the squad"
"I haven't heard anything (about Usman Qadir applying for Australian nationality). He is playing cricket in Pakistan and is here. If he is playing here and if we feel he can be a future prospect, we will back him"
"There is no such thing (feedback from PCB regarding Salman Butt). We have picked 3 openers, they all have very good performances in domestic cricket and they have also performed at the international level. So we will see them and then others will be given chances as well when possible"
"We are thinking positively. We have backup plans. Rizwan hasn't been injured in the last 2-3 years so we're hoping he won't get injured here, plus we don't want to put pressure on him. We do have backup plans, but it's a small tour so we didn't think of taking a 2nd WK"
"Sharjeel has I think gotten permission to play club cricket. Once he plays, we'll see what happens. Regarding other players, there are many players close to selection. Rahat Ali is bowling well and has performed but at the end of the day we wanted to pick 5 pacers in the squad of 15-16. So some players were narrow misses. We will see where we need other players going forward"
"I wouldn't say we dropped Nawaz but we added an extra fast-bowler due to Australian conditions so he missed out on selection. For our white-ball cricket or any cricket, he's a very good player. In Australian conditions, you don't require too much spin backup but obviously he is in our plans going forward"
"Shan Masood has performed well recently, Imam has done well in domestics recently and Abid also made 250 so those players who are performing in domestic cricket and also have performances are the international level are being preferred. Salman Butt is also there, once one of these players goes out of contention then he can be considered"
"With Fawad Alam, we are taking one extra middle-order batsman in Iftikhar. Most teams have left-handers so once he comes into the team, we have an off spin option. Last season Fawad had more runs than Iftikhar but Iftikhar also had 3 tons and had a higher average, plus he performed as a bowler. Australia have left-handers also so that was also part of the equation"
"(Faheem dropped) In this series we're given preference to specialists, even in T20s. Pacy and young bowlers have been preferred due to their energy and we are trying to have an aggressive lineup in bowling so that we can give as good as we get"
"It's clear that we will try to play cricket in a similar way to Australia. When you make a team or go anywhere, winning is the first priority and that's what we're thinking of as well. You do leave things to Allah but we aren't thinking at all that we lose in Australia so let's just get by this series as we always lose. Our strategy is to play aggressive cricket, that will give us the best chance of winning"
"Imam if you look at his T20 stats, he's amongst the top players in the National T20 Cup with 2 MOTMs. In PSL also, he performed in the latter stages. If you look at other openers, they have a similar SR but lower averages. No other openers have really performed exceptionally with a high SR thus we kept him as a 3rd option. Fakhar and Babar are our first choice. With someone like Rizwan Hussain, he's batting in the middle-order so there isn't clarity about his batting position"