Australia vs Pakistan 2019: Misbah-ul-Haq expresses faith in youthful bowling attack
Head coach of the Pakistan cricket team, Misbah-ul-Haq has expressed his confidence in the young squad ahead of their two-Test series Down Under.
Speaking to reporters in Perth, where Pakistan completed their first tour match against Australia A today, Misbah sounded confident about the pace attack at his disposal, as well as the ability of the batsmen to handle bounce on Australian wickets. He said:
"For Asian teams in Australia, it's always difficult, but overall the best thing for us is that our batting line-up is experienced… Our boys who have toured previously scored runs here. Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, and Shan Masood had a good time in the bouncy tracks in South Africa [in 2018-19], so looking forward, we have a good, mature team.”
Misbah thinks that the batting line-up, consisting of Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali among others, will fare well against the likes of Pat Cummins, James Pattinson, and Josh Hazlewood. According to Misbah, taking 20 wickets will be the key to winning matches on fast and bounAustralian tracks.
"It's important for us to take 20 wickets because you can't win without it. I feel our batting line-up is capable enough to put up 400-450 runs on the board, so it also helps our bowlers along the way."
“When you have such an ambitious team, you expect good results. The fast bowlers are energetic and all the players are expected to play well in the conditions.”
The head coach gave a special shoutout to Yasir Shah and the importance of his experience in Australian conditions. Misbah feels that Yasir will provide an extra edge to the bowling line-up and will keep the Australian batsmen guessing.
"Our young fast bowlers and spinner Yasir Shah are our biggest positives… We have got good, young fast bowlers, and Yasir was there with us last time [we toured here]. He [Yasir] is aware of Australian conditions and he also had better preparation, playing domestic cricket at home. He bowled lengthy spells there and he exactly knows what was missing during his previous tour here. So I am hoping that our preparations are better than before.”
Pakistan play their second tour match against Cricket Australia XI from November 15 in Perth. The first Test starts from November 21 at The Gabba in Brisbane before the action shifts to Adelaide for the day-night Test from November 29.
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