"We have a young side, and a young bowling attack where we lack consistency" : Misbah-ul-Haq

[MenInG]

"We have a young side, and a young bowling attack where we lack consistency" : Misbah-ul-Haq

Speaking on radio at start of Day 3 of 1st Test:

"Its always tough when you come to Australia in their conditions, especially against an Australian team which is high in confidence after playing so well in The Ashes"

"In The Gabba, they did the 'Australian' thing to us which is bowl well to us and also batted very well"

"We have a young side, and a young bowling attack where we lack consistency and that's why we are struggling"

"Good thing is that Shaheen came out after rehab from an injury bowled really well, with good pace even until the end of the day, and also got movement"

"Naseem Shah was over above 140KpH consistently in the overs he bowled, with an average speed of 143 KpH and he can move the ball around also; I think in the coming years its a bright future for them and for Pakistan cricket also"

"It was a tough call (to bat first) and this wasnt a traditional Gabba pitch as there was a lot of green grass and sideways movement; the idea was to put atleast 300-350 runs on the board as even on the 2nd day you can see some cracks opening up"

"But that middle session from Lunch to Tea really hurt us and we lost 5 wickets after a good start, so one bad session really hurt us"

"Coaching has been a bit tough in the first couple of months; The toughest part is that 2 of your most experienced bowlers retired from Test cricket right before a tough tour; Also Hasan Ali is injured and so we are totally with a new bowling attack"

"These are the challenges but in cricket and coaching you have to be patient and you have to wait - hopefully these guys have the potential and maybe in 4-5 month's time they will be a far better bowling attack"

We brought in Abbas due to his reputation and that he was a standout bowler for us, but in this season and even coming here, but we felt that the three bowlers who we chose were bowling better than him ; so it was a difficult decision for us because he one of our most experienced and top performer, and its difficult to prefer someone else over him, but we thought the way Imran was bowling in the side-matches where he got a 5fer, and also in the domestic season so it was a difficult decision to prefer him over Abbas"

 

[Shazzam]

Speaking on radio at start of Day 3 of 1st Test:

"Its always tough when you come to Australia in their conditions, especially against an Australian team which is high in confidence after playing so well in The Ashes"

Indeed its always tough coming to Australia to play em in their conditions. I am pretty sure we already knew we were going there to play em in there conditions. Am I right?

"In The Gabba, they did the 'Australian' thing to us which is bowl well to us and also batted very well"

So its only an “Australian” thing to bowl well and bat well? Explains why it was never our thing in this match. We got outplayed just cause its an “Australian” thing. Love this logic Misbah.

"We have a young side, and a young bowling attack where we lack consistency and that's why we are struggling"

The only thing young about this team are the fast bowlers. This is no excuse for not doing well in this test. What people want are results not this excuse for sympathy. You could have selected a team full of oldies if your issue was youth.

"Good thing is that Shaheen came out after rehab from an injury bowled really well, with good pace even until the end of the day, and also got movement"

Does not matter Australia still scored 580.

"Naseem Shah was over above 140KpH consistently in the overs he bowled, with an average speed of 143 KpH and he can move the ball around also; I think in the coming years its a bright future for them and for Pakistan cricket also"

While Naseem is a exciting bowler. This shows your mind is not on winning this Test its to think of the future. With such mentality its no wonder we are lacking a fight.

"It was a tough call (to bat first) and this wasnt a traditional Gabba pitch as there was a lot of green grass and sideways movement; the idea was to put atleast 300-350 runs on the board as even on the 2nd day you can see some cracks opening up"

Instead of having a idea of how much score you wanna make. Make a idea of how to deal with the bowlers. Because it looks like your ideas always tend to fail you.

"Coaching has been a bit tough in the first couple of months; The toughest part is that 2 of your most experienced bowlers retired from Test cricket right before a tough tour; Also Hasan Ali is injured and so we are totally with a new bowling attack"

Confusing coaching with selecting here. Sounds like another jab at Wahab and Amir.

"These are the challenges but in cricket and coaching you have to be patient and you have to wait - hopefully these guys have the potential and maybe in 4-5 month's time they will be a far better bowling attack"

The challenges you listed were of selection. How is that a challenge for a coach? As a coach you gotta work with the players you have available. Try to get the best out of them. Which does not seem like you did. And going on about the future again. What about winning this Test series?

 

[msb314]

At this point - I just hope Babar goes on to make a big score and turn this situation into a respectable defeat..

 

[Bewal Express]

You know poor Babar is almost to certain to fail. Poor lad!

 

[Bilal Ahmad15]

Today is his big day and opportunity to play a long, and world-class innings and announce himself in test cricket.

 

[Relic]

Today is his big day and opportunity to play a long, and world-class innings and announce himself in test cricket.

If he can draw this match, he'll be considered a hero.

 

[dildilpak]

Ideal day for Babar to play today - its a no pressure situation (the match is already done & dusted) & Pak is instead playing for pride. What has he got to lose?

 

[emranabbas]

Babar should be playing at the top with imam.

 

[Abdullah719]

What about the batting

 

[Boi]

Misbah is going to milk this excuse of an inexperienced bowling lineup to cover up the woeful batting.

 

[nads_rocks]

We always seem to have a young inexperienced side in every series be it T20 ODI or test.

Its always the same excuse. Enough is enough now

 

[Junaids]

This is a pathetic and dishonest excuse.

He inherited a Test team with five bowlers aged in their twenties.

And turned it into a team containing two ineffective geriatrics, two kids and nobody in their twenties.

It’s Misbah’s fault!

 

[Revolution]

Previous coach told the same for years now misbah's turn.

 

[coy0607]

Misbah is using Amir and Wahab as excuses, but Abbas has in fact been the best test bowler for over a year now. Absurd

This guy is unconscionable, he always looks for excuses

 

[Junaids]

Zero excuse for fielding a young side.

He inherited a Test team with 8 players in their twenties.

And he turned it into one with seven players Over-30 and two players Under-20.

Misbah did this. He didn’t have to do it, he chose to do it.

 

[Pete Rose]

Garbage interview. Looking forward to going home to play Sri Lanka. Seems to have forgotten we have second test match to play here

 

[Hasan123]

Iftikhar
Asad
Azhar
Imran
Yasir
Shan is 30
Haris is 29

The young team excuse is nonsense. You selected some safe options you feel comfortable which didn't help us in this test.

 

[PakPremi]

Iftikhar
Asad
Azhar
Imran
Yasir
Shan is 30
Haris is 29

The young team excuse is nonsense. You selected some safe options you feel comfortable which didn't help us in this test.

Asad, Azhar and Yasir aside the rest have not played many test matches that too in Sena , so young in experience. We lost badly though leaving out Abbass and Imam for Imran and Iftikhar.

 

[Shafi]

So most likely Ik will play 2nd test in the name of experience along with Abbas who will replace Nasim.

 

[PakPremi]

Dont think so as Abass and IK are similar bowlers Nasim presents pace, and they thought he bowled ok.Waqar did say Imran did not bowl as expected.

 

[Hasan123]

Asad, Azhar and Yasir aside the rest have not played many test matches that too in Sena , so young in experience. We lost badly though leaving out Abbass and Imam for Imran and Iftikhar.

Iftikhar, Haris , and Shan are not new to cricket. They have been playing a while.

It's not a young team.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Misbah has done much to harm his legacy. He is dishonest in his interview - like he showed lack of integrity in ousting Mickey and then taking the job himself.

 

[Energy]

You can't beat Misbah in wordplay. He's seen it all.

And that should be PCBs biggest worry moving forward. Should they really risk handing it all to a guy who will make weirdo decisions and then back them up with excuses?

 

[Junaids]

Misbah has done much to harm his legacy. He is dishonest in his interview - like he showed lack of integrity in ousting Mickey and then taking the job himself.

Zero excuse for fielding a young side.

He inherited a Test team with 8 players in their twenties.

And he turned it into one with seven players Over-30 and two players Under-20.

Misbah did this. He didn’t have to do it, he chose to do it.

I’m going to Adelaide and staying at the InterContinental, where the touring team always stays.

If I bump into Wasim Khan or Ehsan Mani I will be pointing out Misbah’s blatant lies, and that he inherited a team with 8/11 players in their twenties and in the space of one match converted that into 2/11 players (plus Iftikhar).

He took a team in which most of the players were in their peak years and he replaced them with grandpas and kids.

 

[topspin]

I’m going to Adelaide and staying at the InterContinental, where the touring team always stays.

If I bump into Wasim Khan or Ehsan Mani I will be pointing out Misbah’s blatant lies, and that he inherited a team with 8/11 players in their twenties and in the space of one match converted that into 2/11 players (plus Iftikhar).

He took a team in which most of the players were in their peak years and he replaced them with grandpas and kids.

You'll be a legend on PP if you can film it and upload the footage of this interrogation as well.

 

[Syed1]

Thank you Misbah for taking us to minnow status ONCE AGAIN.


I don't know when we will get rid of this dehati never-been loser.

 

[world cup captain]

How stupid does this man think fans are (Aside from a few here and there)? You've gone ahead and picked two kids and backed them up with Imran Khan and Azhar Ali? Exactly what did he think was going to happen? At least give the kids a chance to succeed.

And why focus on the bowling only? Misbah continues to back the oldies, Azhar and Shafiq, but what did they contribute? Asad, as usual, threw it away while Azhar chickened out to play against a club team earlier in the tour. With senior citizens like these, exactly how do you expect success?

 

[JibranAnsari]

captain and the other experienced batsman asad scored a total of 120 between them.

experiencd batsmen arent contributing much either.

 

[Pete Rose]

captain and the other experienced batsman asad scored a total of 120 between them.

experiencd batsmen arent contributing much either.

They are the only reason we are losing tests. Nothing else

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

I’m going to Adelaide and staying at the InterContinental, where the touring team always stays.

If I bump into Wasim Khan or Ehsan Mani I will be pointing out Misbah’s blatant lies, and that he inherited a team with 8/11 players in their twenties and in the space of one match converted that into 2/11 players (plus Iftikhar).

He took a team in which most of the players were in their peak years and he replaced them with grandpas and kids.

Can't wait to hear what comes off it!

 

[DrSchultz]

One thing we know about Misbah from watching him over the past 10 years in different capacities is that he will never take responsibility for anything. The teams will be inexperienced, the pitches will be unhelpful, the captaincy would be poor, the umpiring will be unfair, or the stars won't be aligned.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I don't think Pakistan has the combination to beat OZ in OZ. OZ pitches are batsmen friendly. So you have to outscore them. In order to do that you have to match their batting skills. Both Individually, collectively they are superior. Gap is there.

 

[Pete Rose]

I don't think Pakistan has the combination to beat OZ in OZ. OZ pitches are batsmen friendly. So you have to outscore them. In order to do that you have to match their batting skills. Both Individually, collectively they are superior. Gap is there.

Pretty much. Gabba is such a true flat pitch. Yasir shah playing spinners and pacers with ease on day 4. We lost this game because of the batting, but all the focus is on bowling selection because our savant coach made another selection howler

 

[Abdullah719]

Pretty much. Gabba is such a true flat pitch. Yasir shah playing spinners and pacers with ease on day 4. We lost this game because of the batting, but all the focus is on bowling selection because our savant coach made another selection howler

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Azhar Ali "Raising so many questions so early on the batsmen isn't good, sometimes a batsman doesn't have a good match but one bad match doesn't make you a bad player. I have full faith in all the batsmen, that they can make runs here" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUSvPAK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AUSvPAK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1198499769506816000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Never focus too much on the batsmen

 

[Shazzam]

Pretty much. Gabba is such a true flat pitch. Yasir shah playing spinners and pacers with ease on day 4. We lost this game because of the batting, but all the focus is on bowling selection because our savant coach made another selection howler

Credit where its due. Yasir Shah is a better batsmen than Azhar Ali these days. This lad has improved his batting a lot.

 

[daytrader]

One thing we know about Misbah from watching him over the past 10 years in different capacities is that he will never take responsibility for anything. The teams will be inexperienced, the pitches will be unhelpful, the captaincy would be poor, the umpiring will be unfair, or the stars won't be aligned.

He has two roles, how much more responsibility can he take

 

[Pete Rose]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Azhar Ali "Raising so many questions so early on the batsmen isn't good, sometimes a batsman doesn't have a good match but one bad match doesn't make you a bad player. I have full faith in all the batsmen, that they can make runs here" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUSvPAK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AUSvPAK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1198499769506816000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Never focus too much on the batsmen

Yeah Azhar the problem with you and Asad is just one bad game. Legit

 

[sshakir411]

Maaf karo yaar...you’re the damn selector and coach...you chose to leave out the experienced bowler for the younger inconsistent one. Misbah needs to take a long hard look at himself and his dumb freaking strategy along with Wicky bhai who’s thinking is that of an extinct dinosaur

 

[Junaids]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Azhar Ali "Raising so many questions so early on the batsmen isn't good, sometimes a batsman doesn't have a good match but one bad match doesn't make you a bad player. I have full faith in all the batsmen, that they can make runs here" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUSvPAK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AUSvPAK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1198499769506816000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Never focus too much on the batsmen

What about 14 bad matches average 27.59 since the age of 32?

 

[Nasty Naz]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Azhar Ali "Raising so many questions so early on the batsmen isn't good, sometimes a batsman doesn't have a good match but one bad match doesn't make you a bad player. I have full faith in all the batsmen, that they can make runs here" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUSvPAK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AUSvPAK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1198499769506816000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Never focus too much on the batsmen

If Pakistan happen to lose series vs SR as well, I think he's going to be in trouble.

As for the bowling, Abbas is our most experienced pacers with the most Test matches played out of our fast bowlers and wasn't picked, despite the experience and being our best bowler last couple of years.

Imran wasn't picked for a justifiable reason either. He's been awful in domestic lately, was mediocre at the International level. These are just self-inflicted issues which could have been avoided.

In saying that, Pakistan do lack great Test options. Maybe could have picked Sameen Gul but I'm not sure what other adequate options are out there and they're inexperienced options too. It's probably going to take some time to build this Test team, at least the bowling side of it.

 

[kingusama92]

but we thought the way Imran was bowling in the side-matches where he got a 5fer, and also in the domestic season so it was a difficult decision to prefer him over Abbas"

Why do Waqar and now Misbah keep saying this?

Imran is averaging 49.13 in 5 FC matches this season.

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

Misbah has done much to harm his legacy. He is dishonest in his interview - like he showed lack of integrity in ousting Mickey and then taking the job himself.

what legacy? He was always a selfish person. Nothing new here. I have been complaining about him now for, oh, 9 years. No use. His fans are incorrigible and will not accept any criticism of their hero, not matter how badly he performs or low he pulls the team down in the rankings.

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

Why do Waqar and now Misbah keep saying this?

Imran is averaging 49.13 in 5 FC matches this season.

Tell a lie repeatedly and people will eventually start believing it.

Frankly, I don't think Waqar even knows that stat. He's such a clueless coach and so self-centered.

What kind of bowling coach hasn't studied how Warner was in so much trouble repeatedly in the ashes.

Cricinfo mentioned a damning stat about this, which just shows how clueless both Misbah and Waqar are, and how little homework they have done.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

I’m going to Adelaide and staying at the InterContinental, where the touring team always stays.

If I bump into Wasim Khan or Ehsan Mani I will be pointing out Misbah’s blatant lies, and that he inherited a team with 8/11 players in their twenties and in the space of one match converted that into 2/11 players (plus Iftikhar).

He took a team in which most of the players were in their peak years and he replaced them with grandpas and kids.

Hope u can make him understand to take bowlers who can be reliable to bat for 10 to 12 overs and make a useful contribution of 40 -50 runs in SENA countries if you don’t have kohlis, Kane’s to score runs for u.

In this case Hasan Ali, Faheem ashraf, Amir and Shadab Khan where doing really well. Mickeys only mistake was not playing 2 spinners in UAE which cost him tests, series, and his job as coach. But he was doing well with the strategy in SENA countries except the last SA series.

At this current situation I would play the following 11 in the batting order
Imam Azhar Shan Babar Asad Haris Rizwan Yasir Shaheen Naseem Abbas

Wat I believe is Misbah will drop Haris for Imam and keeps Ifthikar


Tell him don’t take bowlers with less FC experience to SENA countries, same thing happened to Asif during his debut tour where the coach writes him off that he is too slow to be a pace bowler. It is very hard to play test cricket without playing enough FC cricket be it bowlers or batsmen.

Misbah had a pool of fast bowlers in Rahat, Mir hamza, Ehsan Adil to choose from. Not saying Naseem or Musa selection is bad, may be one of them only shud be taken for exposure and experience. It is a fresh pace bowling unit with Abbas the only experienced guy who is benched. All the pace bowlers haven’t even played 10 tests it is minnow level.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

I have figured out Misbah’s way of working. At some point after his retirement and while he was playing domestic cricket, he told these discarded Akmals and Shahzads, Imrans and Irfans that he will play them when he becomes Pakistan’s selector or a coach - which he knew he would from various PCB folks.

In also think Misbah has tremendous self belief. He believes he can look into a player’s eye and tell him “I believe in you“ and that player will become twice the man he is.

I am pretty sure Shoaib and Hafeez have their plane tickets in hand for the next series.

 

[aukhan]

Same old excuses from Misbah.

We are a young side.
We are an inexperienced side.