Pakistan batted badly throughout the ongoing one-day series against South Africa and captain Misbah-ul Haq has been having a tough time explaining his batsmen’s repeated failures.
Twice they were on the doorstep of victory but ended up losing those games in Sharjah (by one run) and Abu Dhabi (by 28 runs) which eventually cost them the series.
South Africa are ahead 3-1 with the final game of the five-match series to be played on Monday in Sharjah. However, despite the reverses, debutant Sohaib Maqsood’s fine batting display in the fourth one-dayer in Abu Dhabi on Friday is an encouraging sign for Pakistan, believes Misbah.
Maqsood, who has been a prolific scorer in Pakistan’s domestic cric-ket this season, began his innings in troubled circumstances as the ‘hosts’ had lost three quick wickets for 86 runs in their chase of a 267-run target.
But the 26-year-old showed amazing confidence and took on the South African bowlers to craft a fluent 56 off 54 balls including six fours and two sixes.
Misbah witnessed it all from close quarters as he shared a 88-run partnership with the debutant. Maqsood’s innings gave a fresh impetus to the Pakistan innings and they were within striking distance of the South African total at 226-5 in the 45th over.
But then they crumbled and were bowled out for 238 as Dale Steyn blitzed through the line-up by claiming three wickets to finish with a career-best haul of 5-25.
“The biggest positive for Pakistan (in the series) has been Sohaib Maqsood,” remarked Misbah. “Despite being his first innings and the situation we were in at that time, he showed a good temperament. There was no nervousness and he played his shots with a lot of authority, which is a very good sign for Pakistan.”
Maqsood has been spoken highly of in Pakistan’s cricket circles and his batting style draws comparisons with former star Inzamam-ul Haq. It probably assumes greater proportions because he is from Multan, the same hometown as Haq.
Maqsood, who holds a masters degree in sports sciences, is known for his strokeplay and loves to play his shots, which was evident at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Friday.
He said: “It is a huge dream come true, but it would have been better had we won. I’m naturally a stroke player and I’ve been in good nick, but this is international cricket and the bowlers will come hard at you, so the best you can do is just go out and play your natural game.
“It doesn’t matter whether Steyn or Morkel is bowling, if it is in my zone I will hit it.”
Even as Pakistan unearthed another talent, Misbah was not willing to accept that they are a “weak team”.
He said: “Calling us a weak team will be rude. We are an inexperienced team, a young team that still gives a tough competition to all the top sides in the world. We are not a weak team, but yes we are a developing team.”
Misbah’s angst is understandable as most of Pakistan’s top-order batsmen have not even played 50 ODIs with only Mohammad Hafeez (133 ODIs) and the captain (132 ODIs) being the most experienced.
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