Pakistan head coach-cum-chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq said his team’s 2-0 victory in the just-concluded three-match T20 International series against Bangladesh is "confidence-booster" for the side after they clinched the series on Monday (January 27).
He further said that this home T20I series victory has given the Men in Green some “breathing space” while crediting bowlers for the success after back to back series losses in the shorter format of the game, as Pakistan retained the top position on the ICC Ranking table.
Before the Bangladesh series, Pakistan had lost eight of their last nine T20Is, and Misbah earned the success with a renewed squad which was the perfect blend of youngsters and veterans.
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The hosts had taken on the Tigers with a brand new squad as Misbah dropped as many as seven players and recalled veterans Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez and that won the series 2-0, and he would like to continue with the mix.
Misbah said after the third T20I washout in Lahore, “After two series, we have realized that we cannot go all out with youngsters and we need experience. So, obviously Babar did back them [Malik and Hafeez] and, as expected, their experience did work for us. The doors are never shut. If any player who is fit, performing and required, he should definitely be considered. If their form is helping your team, then I don't see any problem in picking them.”
He added, “Whenever both seniors weren't there in the team, questions were asked of me. I never really talked about ending someone's career or why we are not considering them. But, sometimes you do look around and check your resources and do an experiment to see where you stand.”
The coach further said the entire Pakistan squad is squad relaxed after home series victory against Bangladesh and now they can focus better going forward.
He continued, “The most important thing for us was to win. This victory was important for us to get breathing space and now you obviously have to see where you are lacking and which area you can strengthen yourself. Otherwise being under pressure, you are always running after many things and sometimes it's really hard to catch up. It's good for me, for the team, for all youngsters that we are relaxed and got a little confidence-booster. Now we can focus better going forward.”
Misbah signed off by saying, “Because when you lose back-to-back series and even before we had a poor run losing T20 games, so it was really important for our confidence to win. Obviously, credit should be given to our bowling, the way our young bowlers never gave Bangladesh a chance to sneak in to get into a position to pose any threat.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
