Misbah-ul-Haq hoping to solve the middle order woes in tour of England and West Indies

Head coach of the Pakistan national cricket team Misbah-ul-Haq is trying to focus on a couple of middle-order positions ahead of the T20 World Cup and the series against England and world champions in this format West Indies will serve as a dress rehearsal for them to get things in order and shuffle the batting order around to see which might work for them in the future. 

Pakistan who landed in the UK a couple of days ago have enough time in their hand to set things rolling before the showpiece event slated for October-November this year. They will play three ODIs and as many T20Is against England and will then fly to the Caribbean shores to lock horns against Windies in a five-match T20I series. 

"The PSL made a few things clear," Misbah was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz on Sunday (June 27). "I think it is that one slot we are trying to fill, at No. 5 and No. 6, that we've had issues with. We have Azam Khan now and Sohaib Maqsood with us to see if they can, and what combination we can make with them,” he added. 

It must be noted that ever since Misbah took over the reins as the head coach of the national side as many as fourteen players have been tried in those two middle-order positions. With Azam Khan and Sohaib Maqsood coming in the mix, they will certainly look to make these two positions their own as Pakistan prepare for the World Cup. 

"Overall, the bowling we know we have pretty much our attack. At the top of the order, we have our four pretty much and their replacements. So, we know our side more or less but a couple of positions that we need to focus on over the next two series,” Misbah said. 

Despite not having a productive time with the bat in the PSL, Azam Khan was selected on the basis of his past performances while Sohaib Maqsood returned to the national squad after a long hiatus owing to a rich vein of form during the recently concluded PSL. He scored 428 runs in the tournament but prefers batting in the top order. 

"We try that whatever players we have here are fully prepared and that we show confidence in them so they go out there and perform. Azam no doubt is talented although he is a little out of form recently. But everyone knows that in modern T20 cricket, the power you need at five or six, the strike rate you need, he has the potential for that. So, looking forward to seeing him, we just have to see what combination we want to go with,” Misbah stated. 

Pakistan had to select the team for both the international series before the resumption of the second leg of PSL. Had they got a chance to analyse the recent performances, Shahnawaz Dhani had a realistic chance of making it to the squad after finishing the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps under his belt. 

"It's always a good thing that the maximum number of players are in good form and in a good frame of mind. But you learn from cricket that it doesn't matter when you have good form and runs and you still don't perform. And sometimes you're not in good form but you come with more focus, you try harder to recapture that form."

"One good thing is we have time. We have ODIs first, so we can utilise that time and then be properly prepared as we go into the T20s. Form is not something that sticks with you permanently or goes away permanently. As coaching staff and players you try and get that back and we have enough time to do it,” Misbah concluded.