Former captain Misbah-ul-Haq believes Pakistan can have a respectable finish in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy if they continue playing the way they did against top-ranked South Africa in Wednesday's match at Edgbaston.
“After suffering defeat against India in the opener, I think they have found a strategy on how to play. They played against South Africa with a changed mindset. If they continue playing in the same fashion in the rest of the tournament, I believe they can have a very good finish,” he told a sports TV channel on Thursday.
Misbah, in particular, mentioned the performance of debutant Fakhar Zaman and one-down batsman Babar Azam.
He said Fakahr's belief and self-confidence against South Africa were excellent.
“The good thing about him is that he plays aggressively while being sensible. This is how he also plays at the domestic level,” he said.
“It was his debut. At no point did he look nervous. He showed great temperament against South Africa and it was marvellous to see him taking on the world's top bowlers in English conditions,” he added.
He hoped that Fakhar's game awareness would improve with the passage of time.
About Babar Azam, Misbah said he had turned into a mature player. “He is an asset for Pakistan. He is scoring consistently. It is after a long time that Pakistan have found a player at the one-down position who is very strong on the back foot.”
“He is also a very busy player and does not find difficulty in any sort of condition. In the match against South Africa, he played according to the requirement. He is improving and that is very good for Pakistan,” he added.
