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Misbah-ul-Haq suggests England series could be his last international outing

“King Misbah” has helped shape a formidable Pakistan Test team in Asian conditions

Pakistan’s upcoming Test assignment against England in the UAE could be skipper Misbah-ul-Haq’s final international outing. In a candid interview with ESPNCricinfo, the 41-year old spoke about the upcoming challenge against the Ashes-winning England team.

Misbah had earlier claimed that he could quit from international cricket after the series against India as he believed that it provided the perfect platform to bring his career to an end. But with the series scheduled for December looking likely to be shelved, Misbah felt that the England series will realistically be his final assignment.

“I have been considering so many factors as it's a very hard decision, in fact one of the toughest ones to take. So, in the next one-and-half months I will be analysing myself as to how far I can go. I will see how much I can contribute for the team and see if my passion remains the same or I start losing interest in the game. Sometimes it's not about fitness, it's about how much interest you have in the game and I don't want to be a liability. So, whatever the decision, you will know soon," he said. 

Having retired from ODIs after the 2015 ICC World Cup, Misbah was confident of a convincing performance against the England team. He asserted: "You can't just go all out aggressively like the cricket England have been playing back home. It's different in the UAE. You can't just be defensive either, though. As I said, you need to have big runs on board and that requires patience as pitches here change their behaviour on a daily basis especially on the fourth and fifth day. So, there are a lot of factors that mean you need to have a balanced approach. And that is the key."

Misbah confident of victory over England

When enquired about whether Pakistan can pull off a repeat of the 3-0 whitewash that they had inflicted on the then number 1 ranked England side, Misbah remained wary about the opposition.

"Within our mind, we are confident. But, at the same time creating a perception about our past victory against them by 3-0 doesn't make any difference. This is a fresh series. England are a much-improved side and are coming after playing their best cricket back at home. They are a far better side in terms of playing spin and this is the reason I stand guarded against us being over confident,” he stated. 

The bulwark of Pakistani batting for quite a few years, Misbah deduced that England’s spin combination was rather untested at this level.

“Their fast bowling is the same but their spinners are weaker this time in the absence of Swann and Panesar. We have answers to their experienced fast bowlers, we understand we have to work hard to negotiate the new ball and later the reverse swing. Their bowling never gave us the chance to score big runs in 2012, but we have plans this time and in the UAE it's all about scoring big runs,” Misbah said. 

Misbah signed off by mentioning that accumulating runs by stitching together productive batting sessions could be the deciding factor in the hot and dry desert conditions of the UAE.

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