Misbah-ul-Haq: “The biggest concern is that we have been losing Tests in the UAE which is our home”

Image courtesy of: Pakistan Super League

Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has admitted that he has been growing increasingly concerned about the Test team as of late.

Pakistan recently traveled to South Africa, where they were whitewashed 3-0 by the Proteas in their most recent Test series.

However, what worries Misbah more is the fact New Zealand, in November to December, defeated Pakistan 2-1 in a three-Test series in the United Arab Emirates, which is where Pakistan have been playing their home games and been dominant for almost a decade.

“It is definitely an area of concern for anyone who is interested in Pakistan cricket,” Misbah told PakPassion. “When we play away from home, we can always say that it’s tough playing in places such as South Africa where Asian teams struggle due to the conditions.

“However, the biggest concern is that we have been losing Tests in the UAE which is our home. We really need to put some effort to get to the bottom of this issue and find out what problems we have which are causing us to lose at home.

“Obviously, we have to have a good look at our domestic cricket system to understand why we are unable to produce more quality spinners and batsmen who can play spin bowling with ease. It appears to me that in the last 10-12 years a lot of domestic cricket has been played on seaming tracks which is why we are struggling to produce good quality spinners.

“Given the nature of the pitches, the spinners are not getting enough time to bowl and similarly, the batsmen are getting less time to face spinners. With this background, our batsmen and spinners run into problems in the UAE as they don’t seem to have practice in this aspect of our cricket.”