Misbah blames domestic set-up for series loss

ISLAMABAD: Head coach Misbahul Haq has put the blame for the 3-0 whitewash in England to Pakistan’s weak domestic system.

In a virtual press conference Wednesday, Misbah said England had the luxury to shuffle with resources. “Unlike England, finding a replacement or a new player for a particular place becomes difficult.

“The strength of the system allows England to fill in the vacuum. We don’t have such a luxury. We are finding it hard to pick a right player in the middle-order as one odd performance in the T20 League cricket sometimes helps a player to earn a place on the team.

Countries like England on the other hand get multiple choices and that is because of the strength of their system,” he said.

Misbah said he had no solid reason to defend 3-0 series defeat.

“It was as surprising for us all as for everyone back home. We have no words to defend the 3-0 loss which came after a series of victories. We thought that we were capable of beating the best as we had shown in recent series.

“But now I think we have to start from scratch. We were even unable to defend a solid total the other day. Neither did the bowlers bowl to a plan nor were they supported by the fielders. I think you cannot point out at any individual.

“It was the failure of all, including players and management. We were nowhere in the first two matches, but we should have won the third. The bowlers were not at their best throughout the series which was a bit surprising for everyone,” he added.

“We have to see what went wrong during the one month of PSL,” Misbah said.

“Obviously, we need to pick up our game in the series to come. You cannot write off the Green-shirts merely on the basis of one bad series. We had won some tough series coming into this ODI series and hopefully will do that again,” he said.

He defended Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf’s roles in the team.

“Their presence gives the team a balanced look. They are all-rounders. Faheem’s performance against South Africa was exceptional. Shadab has started showing signs of improvements. We always try to play the best XI, the one which we think is the best. There has never been favoritism,” he claimed.