Bruised and battered in the one-day and Twenty20 series, Pakistan are hoping to restore some lost pride in the two match Test series against Bangladesh, beginning in Khulna on Tuesday. The return of veterans Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan in the national fold gave them a renewed hope as they seek to overcome the hangover of ODI and Twenty20 humiliation. Left-handed batsman Sami Aslam, who came as one of the very few bright spots in the series, strongly believed that his side will leave the nightmares behind them and get a positive result in Tests.
The 19-year old boy from Punjab, who played an impressive innings of 45 in his debut match in the third one-dayer, said the return of Misbah and Younis have brought some much-needed experience in the team that they were missing so far.
Sami, who impressed his selectors by his dependable performance in the first-class cricket as the
opener, scored five centuries and three fifties in his 21-match first-class career.
‘We have Misbah-Ul-Haque and Younis Khan coming into the Test side and [with them] I think we are a very good Test side and Inshallah we are looking forward to win the series,’ Sami told reporters in Khulna on Sunday.
Misbah and Younis have played 149 Tests between them and scored 36 centuries in their career. Of them, 37-year old Younis is also Pakistan’s one of the leading batsmen in Tests, having scored 28 centuries, the maximum for his country.
Test captain Misbah, who started his career late, scored eight centuries, six of them as captain, when he took the helm in 2010. He retired from the one-day side after leading Pakistan to World Cup quarter-finals and handed over the baton of one-day team to Azhar Ali.
‘I think they [Misbah and Younis] are world class players and they will make the difference like the previous series against Australia and New Zealand where they played really good cricket.’
Though Pakistan fielded a relatively new side in one-dayers, they almost retained the same squad that beat Australia 2-0 and drew with New Zealand 1-1 in their last two Test series in UAE.
Unlike the ODI series, where they plummeted to eighth in the rankings, Pakistan’s Test ranking is also respectable as the side is currently occupying the fourth place with 104 rating points.
An International Cricket Council media release on Sunday confirmed that they will drop to 96 points should they lose the series 1-0 to ninth place Bangladesh, who have just 32 points to their credit.
Sami, who played against Bangladesh Under-19 level, said they are determined to uphold their current Test ranking.
‘We are now in number four in the world ranking and we have our strategy,’ said the young opener.
‘We are working hard with our strategy. They [Bangladesh] are good team but the Test series is entirely different from the one-day and Twenty20,’ said the left-hander.
-With New Age input
