Misbah-ul-Haq admires Afghanistan’s fighting spirit – Cricket News Update
The Pakistani skipper, Misbah-ul-Haq, was full of praise for the Afghanistan team after they put up a resilient effort in the one-off One Day International match against the Men in Green on Friday, February 10 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Misbah asserts that the Afghanis have immense potential to grow and are a team to watch out for in the future. The right-handed batsman wants the minnows to play more matches against top sides, as it will help them gain experience, which they lack at the
moment.
The Pakistani captain reckons that Afghanistan can certainly cause trouble to weaker oppositions such as Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Admiring the minnows fighting spirit in the solitary ODI, Misbah said, “It was a good game. The way Afghanistan team played I am really happy. They have some really good, exciting cricketers. I think Afghanistan can give tough time to Zimbabwe, Bangladesh
and even to better teams. It is all about experience and if they play more cricket against good teams in the world, they are going to improve. T20 or for one-day, this is a dangerous side. They can still improve and they have excellent fighting spirit. They
put in a lot of effort in fielding.”
Pakistan was the clear favourites to win the match against Afghanistan and the Men in Green did just that. Even though Afghanis lost the game by seven wickets, but the way they played was really encouraging.
Batting first, Afghanistan posted 195 runs on the board on a pitch that favoured spin and considering the spin bowling option available at Pakistan’s disposal, the minnows did a good job.
The Afghanistan cricket team could have scored more, if it was not for Shahid “Boom Boom” Afridi. The flamboyant cricketer took his eight five wicket-haul to restrict the Afghani team to under 200.
The Afghanis also bowled well, Dawlat Zadran in particular was quite impressive. He took the early wicket of Pakistani opener Muhammad Hafeez, and later trapped Asad Shafiq leg before wicket.
However, the experience of Younis Khan and Misbah shone through for Pakistan, as the two veteran batters saw their side over the finish line. Younis top scored with 70 while the skipper made 40.