Ijaz Butt lauds Pakistan for Test win

LAHORE: Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt has hailed the performance of the Pakistan team, especially of its captain Misbah-ul-Haq and bowlers Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul in the first Test which England lost by ten wickets.

“The entire team worked very hard to achieve this convincing victory, but the way Misbah led the boys is the main factor behind

this big achievement and similarly the individual performances of Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul deserve high praise,” Ijaz told FTNews.

“The PCB faced heavy criticism when we appointed Misbah as captain but now that he has proved himself by leading Pakistan superbly, we stand vindicated with our choice,” he said.

He said the team was also doing remarkably better as far as discipline was concerned and for that the entire team management including head coach Mohsin Hasan Khan and manager Naveed Akram Cheema deserved lot of credit.

Ijaz said no one was expecting such an easy win over a top side like England, but the current team achieved the unthinkable because they played like a unit.

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Flower confident of swift comeback

DUBAI: Coach Andy Flower expressed his confidence in England staging a swift comeback against Pakistan after losing the opening Test by 10 wickets inside three days.

Top-ranked England crumbled to 160 all out in their second-innings to go down in the three-match series.

‘We were outplayed’

It was the team’s first Test as world number one, a position they attained in August last year following a 4-0 rout of India.

“Pakistan certainly outplayed us by a long margin in this Test,” said Flower.

“We underperformed. However, we can come back from this. Is it a real test? Yes it will be. Beating Australia in Australia was [also] a big test.

“This team has done great things in the recent past, but we have to move on from the past and live in the present.”

England have not lost a series since losing to the West Indies in 2009 – Flower’s first after he took over from Peter Moores. The coach also disagreed that England were under-prepared or lacked application.

“I don’t think it’s either of those. Our preparations were excellent. Our challenge now is to get up to speed for the second Test.”

Strauss will bounce back: Flower

Meanwhile, Flower backed captain Andrew Strauss, who made 19 and six in the first Test, to regain his touch in time for the second Test.

“Strauss is a pretty calm person and I wouldn’t say he’s in poor form at all.

“He got out in the first-innings to a shot he wouldn’t want to repeat, and he was unlucky in the second. That’s how it goes sometimes. He’ll bounce back.”

The second Test of the three-match series starts in Abu Dhabi from January 25.

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