Page 27 - Pakistan Link - August 21, 2020

SPORTS
SPORTS
Misbah has no qualms over team’s
fitness for final Test
SOUTHAMPTON: Pakistan head
coach Misbah-ul-Haq is confident his
side’s fitness levels will hold up when
they face England in the third and fi-
nal Test at Southampton starting on
Friday. A season reshaped by the nov-
el coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic
has left Pakistan with a programme of
three Tests in as many weeks.
What could have been a truly
gruelling schedule became less ardu-
ous as a result of so much time being
lost to rain and bad light during the
drawn second Test, also at Southamp-
ton, concluded on Monday.
But Misbah, who as a 42-year-
old captain of Pakistan celebrated
scoring a hundred against England at
Lord’s in 2016 with a round of press-
ups, has long been convinced of the
need for his players to be in shape.
“Fitness has been an important
part of our strategy as a team since
I took on the role of head coach last
September and we have seen the ben-
efits in the two Tests so far,” Misbah
wrote in a column for the Pakistan
Cricket Board’s website. “The play-
ers have taken ownership of their fit-
ness levels and they should be given
credit for that, especially after three
months at home during the Covid-19
pandemic.
“They know having supreme fit-
ness will help them to perform under
pressure.” Pakistan go into the series
finale 1-0 down after a three-wicket
defeat in the first Test at Old Trafford.
But that loss saw Shan Masood
show plenty of endurance during a
Test-best 156 while wicket-keeper
Pink ball Tests under lights can help
cricket survive: Waqar
KARACHI: Reacting to the dreary
draw to the weather-plagued second
Test against England at Southamp-
ton’s Ageas Bowl, Pakistan bowling
coach Waqar Younis feels cricket ad-
ministrators must do a ‘rethink’ in the
playing conditions to guarantee more
play.
Talking to reporters online during
post-match media conference late
on Monday, ex-Pakistan skipper
Waqar admitted it was possible for
both teams to spend longer time on
the field than being confined to their
dressing-rooms in a match where just
134.3 overs of action were possible
chiefly because of rain and bad light.
“It was really very, very frustrat-
ing for all concerned. The weather,
for sure, was not in our hands but
having said that there were moments
when the Test could have moved on
in terms of action [on the field]. I
think it is high time that playing with
the pink balls under lights is consid-
ered a viable option for the survival
Mohammad Rizwan, impressive in
Manchester, was named man-of-
the-match in the second Test for a
determined 72.
“Rizwan is a great example of
that [fitness] in the way he ran be-
tween the wickets and batted with
the tail,” explained Misbah. “Shan
also showed it in the first Test, bat-
ting for almost eight hours, and run-
ning really well with Shadab Khan.
The way they stole quick singles is
something that you don’t see much
in Test cricket and certainly not
from a Pakistan team.”
The second day of the second
Test was also Pakistan’s Indepen-
dence Day, which has previously co-
incided with some notable moments
in the country’s cricket history.
“It is always a special moment
of cricket and use of floodlights be
made mandatory when there is lack
of natural sunlight.
“The interpretations governing
the laws on light are now being dis-
cussed and to suggest that pink ball
is the answer for it is still at an ex- bowing out of international cricket.
perimental phase from my perspec-
tive. There had been just one Test in
England with the pink ball. The oth-
ers who have played with pink balls
have advocated that Test cricket can
be staged and it is financially viable
too because playing under lights also
encourage more people to watch the
match at the ground after work.
“Our team have played in several
pink-ball Tests— twice in Australia
and one in Dubai — but I’ve no idea
actually how does the Duke-brand
pink balls behave in English condi-
tions, altho¬ugh there had been one
Test with these balls over here in En-
gland [the home side defeating West
Indies by innings and 209 runs within
three days at Edgbaston in 2017].
to celebrate Independence Day
during a Test match and Pakistan
has some great memories from
previous such occasions in En-
gland: our first-ever Test win in
England in 1954 came just after
Independence Day, as did the fa-
mous win at Lord’s in 1982 and,
from a personal point of view, our
victory at the Oval in 2016 when
we levelled the series on 14 Au-
gust itself,” recalled Misbah.
Unfortunately for Pakistan, the
weather in Southampton meant the
current side could not add to those
successes, although Misbah said:
“Hopefully we can deliver a late gift
to the nation in the final Test and an-
nounce another Independence Day!
Or, as coach, I can just announce that
this is the month of Independence.”
Finch eyes 2023
World Cup as career
swansong
MELBOURNE: Australia limited
overs captain Aaron Finch has set
himself a goal of playing the 2023
one-day World Cup in India before
The 33-year-old opening bats-
man told Australian radio that crick-
et’s pause in 2020 due to Covid-19
had only made him more determined
to push through to the global tourna-
ment in the subcontinent.
“My end date at this stage is the
World Cup final of the 2023 World
Cup in India,” he told SEN. “That’s
my goal and I’m sticking to it.
“That’ll see me through to 36
[years old], obviously with form and
everything permitting, and injuries.
“If I thought I was going to be
pushing it to get to that date, this
break has confirmed that I’ll be ready
to go right through to that period.”
Finch’s opening partner David
Warner has also targeted the 2023
World Cup, though he said last month
that family was his priority and he
might review his international com-
mitments depending on the long-term
situation with Covid-19.
Finch led Australia to the
semi-finals in England last year
and was part of the Michael
Clarke-captained side that won the
2015 World Cup on home soil. He
is leading a squad of 21 to England
next week for limited overs series
in Southampton and Manchester
starting Sept 4, which will be Aus-
tralia’s first international cricket
since the pandemic cut the season
short in March. Finch, who has
been locked down in Melbourne
as authorities battle a second wave
outbreak, said he had not missed
cricket for the first month of home
isolation and wondered if he had
lost motivation. “Originally, that
was alarm bells for me.
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AUGUST 21, 2020 - PAKISTAN LINK
Yousuf, Razzaq offered coaching
roles in PCB
KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket
Board is all set to hire some more big
names in the High Performance Cen-
tre and with domestic teams in order
to streamline and uplift domestic
cricket that will eventually improve
Pakistan team’s performance.
Reliable sources confirmed to
Dawn News on Wednesday that the
PCB has offered coaching roles to
former captain and prolific bats-
man Mohammad Yousuf and ace
all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and both
wiil be hired soon.
According to reports, the PCB
has offered the role of batting coach
to Yousuf at the High Performance
Centre while Razzaq is likely to join
as head coach of one of the region-
al cricket associations,” the sources
revealed. Sources also revealed that
the PCB may hire a few more for-
mer cricketers very soon who will be
given responsibility with the regional
domestic teams. “For that, the PCB
Root would love to play in Pakistan
SOUTHAMPTON: England captain
Joe Root has said he ‘would love’to
play in Pakistan but is unsure when
the space could be found in a crowd-
ed schedule ahead of a planned tour
in 2022. England have not played in
Pakistan since 2005-06. An attack by
armed militants on Sri Lanka’s team
bus in Lahore in 2009 ended major
cricket tours for a decade, with Paki-
stan playing the majority of their sub- Test cricket was there at the back end
sequent ‘home’ matches in the United
Arab Emirates.
But Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, West
Indies and Bangladesh have all since
made the trip to Pakistan.
Pakistan are 1-0 down in a three-
Test series in England after a weath-
er-affected drawn second Test at
Southampton on Monday followed a
three-wicket loss at Old Trafford ear-
lier this month.
“I’d love to go and visit Paki-
s¬tan,” Root told reporters after
stumps at the Ageas Bowl in an echo
of recent comments made by England
coach Chris Silver¬wood. “It would
be a great opportunity to go and play
there personally. Unfortunately, it’s
not my decision to make but it looks
a wonderful country to go and play
cricket in. “The wickets look nice and
Babar only batsman ranked among
top 5 in all formats
LAHORE: After regaining his ca-
reer-best fifth position in ICC’s Test
rankings on Tuesday, right-handed
Babar Azam is currently the only
batsman in the world to be ranked
among the top-five in all formats.
Azam moved up a spot to num-
ber five after his 47-run knock in the
second Test match against England in
Southampton. The match was drawn
after rain repeatedly interrupted play. against England.
With 879 points, Azam is the
top batsman in the Twenty20 In-
ternational format and is ranked at
number three in the one-day inter-
is in talks with former Test cricketer
and selector Basit Ali, former Test
player Atiq uz Zaman, ex-Test fast
bowler Mohamamd Zahid and bats-
man Faisal Iqbal,” said the sources.
“The PCB has a preference for
those wx-players who have also
equipped themselves with profes-
sional coaching courses and are ca-
pable of training cricketers as per the
demands of the modern game.”
It was also learnt that the PCB
is also in talks with former Pakistan
all-rounder Rana Naveedul Hasan
and ex-opener Ghulam Ali for roles
in domestic cricket.
As per the sources, Pakistan’s do-
mestic season this year will resume
in late September with a National
T20 Cup in Rawalpindi and Multan.
As proposed, the first phase will be
played in Rawalpindi while the sec-
ond phase will be in Multan and
matches of the second phase will be
telecast live.
flat, which will be a nice change to
what we have just played on here,”
the top-order batsman added.
Test cricket returned to Pakistan
in December, when Sri Lanka were
the visitors.
“You see could see the emotion
of everyone back in Pakistan when
of last year,” said Root. “Also, speak-
ing to a few of the players, how much
it meant to them as well and they real-
ly appreciated being able to play back
in Pakistan too.”
Earlier this month, Pakistan
Cricket Board (PCB) chief executive
Wasim Khan, voiced the hope that
England could tour before 2022.
“We’d love to have them coming
over well before then for a shorter
tour,” Wasim said. “It’s something
that we’ll speak to the England and
Wales Cricket Board [ECB] about.”
But Root was wary about how
additional fixtures could be added
to an international programme still
struggling with the fallout from the
novel coronavirus [Covid-19) pan-
demic. “We’ve such a busy sched-
ule already with backlogging due to
Covid-19, it will be interesting to see
how that would work,” he said.
national format. He is the only Pa-
kistani batsman ranked among the
top 10 in all three formats.
The new rankings, released to-
day, also showed developments for
other Pakistani players. Mohammad
Abbas — currently the only Paki-
stani bowler among the top 10 in Test
rankings — moved up to the eighth
spot after his 2/28 in the second Test
Among teams, Pakistan currently
occupies the seventh spot in the ICC
Test rankings, sixth spot in the 50-
over format and fourth in T20s.