Misbah-ul-Haq is a father-figure to the players: Nasser Hussain

Being regarded as one of the top television analysts around the cricketing world for his expert opinions on cricket, Nasser Hussain has made his comments about Misbah-ul-Haq and the recently concluded Test series between Pakistan and England in an exclusive interview with PakPassion.net.

When asked about not many expecting Pakistan to squaring the series against England at their home turf, he said that he isn’t much surprised as his concern was only about the batting line-up of the subcontinent nation, as it revolves around Misbah and Younis Khan. despite being aged 42, Nasser wants Misbah to continue as long as possible.

Speaking about the difference Misbah had brought into the Pakistan team, he said, “He’s a father-figure to the players. When he speaks in the dressing room, the players listen. He is someone they all look up to and admire and he does give them the freedom to be fiery at times as we saw when he let Amir and Wahab Riaz get stuck into the opposition and bowl fast and hostile spells.”

Younis failed to make a remarkable score in the first three Tests but played brilliantly in the fourth Test with a double century to his name. “It was a remarkable effort to change it round at The Oval and it was an equally remarkable story of Mohammad Azharuddin calling him from India and giving him a batting tip. But I also thought that in the games he played, even though he was struggling, he showed a lot of fight and character.”

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Asad Shafiq was surely one of the unsung heroes of the series, speaking about him, Nasser quoted saying, “I spoke with Mahela Jayawardene before the series and asked him who I should look out for in the Pakistan line-up. He said one of their best players is Asad Shafiq and when someone like Jayawardene talks about a player in that way then you’d better listen.”

Nasser also praised Sami Aslam, who featured in just two Test matches for his composed batting and Yasir Shah for being positive despite having an up-and-down series. He also lamented that it has been a remarkable performance by Pakistan to challenging for the number one Test ranking despite having no international cricket at home for more than six years.

The last series between the two teams in 2010 had seen a lot of controversy as in that series 3 Pakistani cricketers along with Mohammed Amir was banned for 5 years for spot-fixing. However, this time around it was a controversy-free series. “Many people enjoyed the series not just because of the talent of the two teams but also the way it was played.”