NAPIER, New Zealand — Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq has paid tribute to the enormous role played by the UAE in helping Pakistani cricket in the last few years.
The UAE has been the second home of Pakistan since international teams stopped travelling to the country for security reasons after the attack on Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009.
On the eve of their World Cup Group B clash at Napier and exactly six years to the day of the Lahore attack, Misbah lauded UAE’s role in providing a home for Pakistan cricket.
“It’s really important for us because whatever we did in the last four-five years, I think the UAE played a big role in Pakistan's cricket,” Misbah said.
“We achieved so many things there, a whitewash of England and whitewash of Australia in Test matches. We won against Sri Lanka also.
“We have played most of our cricket in the UAE, so you could say that’s home for us, and whatever we are achieving, whatever we did in the last four years, that’s due to the UAE. They have played really a big part, an important part in Pakistan’s cricket.”
That is not going to stop Pakistan giving their best in the match, though, and they are aware how important a win will be.
“Yeah, we know most of their players,” Misbah added. “They’ve been playing with our players even in Dubai, where many of our players played league games and their domestic games. I think they know our players very well and we know them very well. Obvious, we have plans against each other.
“It’s an open pool. Anything can happen, and every game is important in this pool, no matter who is playing today and who is playing tomorrow. We have to focus on just going there, improve our performance and try to win the games.”
Misbah claimed it is challenging for his team as they are playing three matches in a period of seven days. Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe on Sunday, and will take on South Africa next Sunday – sandwiching Wednesday’s match against UAE.
“These six-seven days are going to be really tough for us. That’s how it is,” said Misbah.
“I mean, we are just having a lot of days off before…even seven, eight days in between the games, and now these are important games, and we have to travel between every game, and in seven days we have to play three games.
“That could be really challenging for us, but we have a job in our hand so we have to do it.”
