Faisal Iqbal feels he is capable of replacing Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan

After an emphatic Test win against the Windies in the Caribbean, two pillars of Pakistani cricket Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan decided not to wear the Pakistani jersey again. Those are big boots to fill and Pakistani cricket fraternity is in the search for the next Misbah and Younis, and middle-order batsman Faisal Iqbal feels he is the right man to succeed the two retired legends.

Faisal, who has played 26 Test matches for his country, has not been a part of the Test squad for over 7 years now. But that doesn’t stop him from thinking about staging a grand comeback to fill up the vacant places in the team. Though Iqbal’s performance in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy, scoring 493 runs in 7 games with an average of just under 38, is noteworthy, another key figure is his age- 35.

But the Karachi man feels that a team cannot perform well with just the youngsters and desperately needs an experienced campaigner amongst their ranks, and he can be the veteran Pakistan is looking for. “Two experienced players have left the team and a space in the middle-order is open. I am a middle-order batsman and that is where I have been performing well there for some years now,” said Iqbal while speaking to The Express Tribune.

“When an experienced player leaves the team, another senior player should replace him. No team in the world can succeed with just young players. There has to be a combination of senior and junior players. I am one of the senior-most players around and am experienced enough to help the side. I have been working on my fitness and my skills. I know I am fit enough to be in the national team and will be considered if I perform in the upcoming domestic season,” the owner of 8 Test fifties continued.

Confident of making a comeback

Though not many would feel that Pakistani coach Mickey Arthur will call up Iqbal for the Test side, the batsman himself sounder very optimistic.

“I am sure if I perform in the domestic cricket I will get a place in the team. I have been working hard for this and the time has finally come to earn back a place in the team. When I was dropped from the team, I was told to keep performing in the domestic circuit and that I will be considered once a slot opens up in the middle-order. Hence, I will be doing my best this season in order to achieve my target of returning to the national side. I was not picked for the upcoming national T20 as I have not performed in that format, but in four-day cricket, I have been scoring centuries,” he signed off.