Misbah questions Pakistan's domestic set-up

Misbah-ul-Haq, understandably, spends a lot of his time in front of the media explaining that not being able to play international cricket at home has adversely affected the Pakistan team. After their defeat in Dubai - a first for them at this venue - he went even further and questioned whether a more rigorous domestic set-up is also needed for them to thrive in conditions which suit them already.

"It may be due to the first-class system. If you are coming through a tough first-class system, playing really tough teams, facing tough bowlers and batsmen, it automatically comes when you play competitive cricket," he said. "Otherwise, if you are in an easy competition, when you are playing top sides, you will struggle. We must make our first class more competitive. That is why we are not mentally strong."

Pakistan's domestic season had not started before this series was played, although they played warm-up matches before leaving for the UAE, but it is a competition in which matches are often shorter than four-days and five-wicket hauls are not uncommon. If it is impacting on members of the international team, then it could explain why their inconsistencies in the batting department, which ultimately cost them a series win against another world No.1.

After scoring 442 in the first innings of the first Test, Pakistan looked a completely different side when they were bundled out for 99 on the first day in Dubai. Misbah knew that innings had cost his side the series.

"We are disappointed given the conditions here," he said. Before the series Misbah made special mention of how his batsmen would be better on these surfaces than they were in Zimbabwe and South Africa because the pitches suited their style of play. Graeme Smith noted Pakistan's batsmen are "far more comfortable with less pace and bounce that they have here."

Still, Pakistan managed to fold in the first innings and slump to 2 for 2 in the second, raising questions about their top-order that were thought to be on their way to being answered after their showing in Abu Dhabi. Khurram Manzoor followed up his century with a pair and Shan Masood made one start and then a duck to ensure the uncertainty in the top two, which has been a long-running issue in Pakistan cricket, exacerbated by Mohammad Hafeez's loss of form, continues.

Instead of looking elsewhere, though, Misbah wants some continuity. "If you keep changing things, it doesn't help. Opening is one of the toughest jobs. You need some experience. Even the best players struggle sometimes. You just need to be patient," he said. "To keep on changing the openers is not the solution. These guys need to learn. They need more chances to understand what Test cricket is."

If they had that, and the grounding from their domestic game, Misbah believes 99 all out could have been avoided and the session that lost Pakistan the Test may never have been. "It was just one session and if we could reverse that then that thing that is associated with us, that we are just so bad in one hour and one session, would not hurt us. We want to improve on that in future. We don't want these sorts of sessions. We need more character, otherwise ups and downs can really hurt the team."

As South Africa showed in their innings and Pakistan did in their second attempt, the pitch in Dubai had runs in it throughout the game. It also had appreciable turn, which Pakistan's spinners were never able to exploit by having a target to defend. Misbah believed even a lead under of 200 could have given Pakistan a chance. "If we had something of 150 or 200 runs in the last innings, the kind of patches and rough on the pitch, the kind of spinners we have, it could have been very interesting."

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent

Feeds: Firdose Moonda © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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'Two run-outs were the turning point' - Misbah

Misbah-ul-Haq said that the run-outs of Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams, were the turning points during the third and final ODI which Pakistan won by 108 runs to take series 2-1 in Harare. Led by another fifty from Misbah, Pakistan set the hosts a target of 261 after they were put in to bat. But only four Zimbabwe batsmen could reach double figures as they were all out for 152. While Taylor made a 29-ball 26, Williams scored two.

"I think the two run-outs were very crucial," Misbah said. "After the run-out of Taylor, we were very much in the game and when Williams got run-out, that was the crucial stage. After that, the game was in our control."

Misbah, often criticised for his strike rate, stated that the conditions were not easy to bat on and admitted that he was also struggling to middle the ball before unleashing a few boundaries toward the end of the innings.

"It was really difficult to score runs," he said. "I think they were bowling well, they were utilising the conditions well and we were unable to score runs. All their bowlers bowled really well, especially the way they utilised the new ball in the first 20 overs. Chatara bowled particularly well.

"I was just not middling the ball, not getting the timing right, so you can say [there was] a bit of pressure, because we lost two wickets and Hafeez got injured. But after that, Umar Amin came in and he gave us momentum and finished it well."

Even though they were outplayed in the series opener, Pakistan came back and won the next two games, scoring nearly 300 in the second ODI and then dismissing Zimbabwe for 152 in the decider to seal the series.

"I'm really happy to win this series especially after losing the first game and the way they played," Misbah said. "The biggest lesson we have learnt is: don't take any opposition lightly, especially Zimbabwe because they have some experienced players who have been playing international cricket for such a long time. Even in our team, most of the guys have played less games than Zimbabwean players. We should be giving our 100% all the time and pushing ourselves if we want to win against them [in Tests]."

The Pakistani selectors were criticised before the start of the tour for picking a full-strength squad and not using the opportunity to test new talent. Unlike India, who toured Zimbabwe with a stand-in captain, Virat Kohli, and handed ODI debuts to four players, Pakistan came with their frontline pacers and spinners and only gave a T20 debut to Sohaib Maqsood. Misbah defended the selectors' decision and said their current squad was already full of youngsters.

"The way we played after the first match, I think the critics who kept saying, 'youngsters should have been sent' would have got their answers," Misbah said. "We have players like Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Amin, Junaid Khan, who have played 15-20 matches. You can't have all your 11 players making their debut. Our team is already new and we have to give this team more exposure and experience. We have three-four players who have been playing consistently and have played over a 100 matches. Otherwise all our players are new. Even when we played with our full strength, they [Zimbabwe] gave us a tough time."

Misbah also spoke about Mohammad Hafeez, who injured his left hamstring while batting and had to walk off the field before coming back to bat again later. He also bowled nine overs and picked up two wickets and was named Man of the Series.

"He's feeling well, it's a little bit of strain," Misbah said. "Let's see how the next two days go and I think he will be okay in two days."

The teams will now play two Tests, beginning on September 3, and Misbah said they will have to work on their fast bowling and fielding to perform better. With changes to the team for the longer format, Misbah said their performances will get better with specialist bowlers and better fielders coming in.

"We will have a new team for the Tests after a lot of changes and we want to improve in our fast bowling, our lengths we are bowling on in these conditions," he said. "We especially need to improve our fielding. With some of the specialist bowlers and fielders coming in, I hope we will get better."

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Plus the inevitable obligatory urine jokes, by Dave Podmore

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