“We are as frustrated as fans with the way we lost first Test against England” – Misbah ul Haq

Misbah-ul-Haq

Pakistan head coach, Misbah ul Haq, has said that the side is frustrated after losing the first test against England by three wickets. It was a complete turn around with the way they outplayed the visitors on the fourth day with the brilliance of Chris Woakes who scored 85 runs and Jos Butler who contributed with 75 runs and together they put a 139 run stand which was not easy after losing five quick wickets for 117.

We are feeling frustrated, just as the fans are, after the Old Trafford Test match but this is how cricket is. There are very small margins between victory and defeat and it’s easy to curse yourself when you’ve lost,” Misbah wrote for PCB’s official site.

But, we should remember that we were right on top until pretty much the last session of the game and we played very good cricket. Sure, we need to improve 10 to 15 per cent and deal with pressure situations a little better but we shouldn’t be mentally down“.

There is a disappointment, of course, but we must not keep that feeling in our minds otherwise it will be difficult to come back but the team believes we can fight back.” He added.

Misbah defended the captaincy style of Azhar Ali who was on the radar as a lot of experts thought that bowling changes were not so good as they didn’t attack Woakes with short balls or use Shadab Khan properly, by pointing it on luck.

It was a thrilling Test match and full credit must go to England for the way they fought back, came from behind and took the game away from us. There was wonderful cricket played by both teams. Sometimes luck doesn’t favor you, sometimes the opposition plays well – that’s the beauty of the game,” he explained.

“There has been debate about whether we could have bowled more short stuff or we could have bowled Shadab Khan earlier. Maybe so, but you also have to remember that Woakes and Buttler did have quite a lot of luck in that partnership. A lot of balls went here and there, into no man’s land. If one of those goes to a fielder then the situation could have been very different. “

Misbah also credited Shan Masood who played a brilliant knock of 156 runs in the first innings due to which Pakistan were able to surpass more than 300 runs in the first innings. He also said that bowling is in fine shape despite the mistakes bowlers committed in the fourth innings.

The bowling was also excellent. It’s a young seam attack, apart from Mohammad Abbas, and both Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah did really well. Yasir Shah bowled well in both innings and it’s great to see him back in such good form after a period of struggle. Those are positive signs for us. We fielded well, which was another plus, and Mohammad Rizwan was outstanding behind the stumps,” he concluded.