Pakistan team has not had the best of times touring in the recent past and the upcoming tour of South Africa will be another steep one for them. However, head coach Misabh -ul-Haq is not losing his sleep over the fortunes of his team in the ODI and T20 series against the hosts.
Speaking about the preparations for the tour, Misbah exuded confidence in the technique of Pakistan batsmen and said that players such as Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, and Babar Azam have gained significant experience of playing in South Africa. The latest entrant into the Pakistan batting line up—Mohammed Rizwan has tasted huge success in the recent past, both in Pakistan and on away tours, and hence Misbah said that Pakistan will have a batting line up that relishes the prospect of batting on backfoot.
"As a batsman, you enjoy that, you get full value for your shots. Previously, in this team, some of the players have played here and performed - Imam, Babar, Fakhar was here. These players love that pace and bounce, now Rizwan is in form, a very good backfoot player. Those previous series and experiences definitely count, they play a role in your confidence as a player and team. When I was playing, suddenly, you just went to a ground where you've performed and your confidence level was always different,” Misbah said on Monday.
Pakistan will be playing all their matches against South Africa in Centurion and Wanderers where the pitches support the pace and carry and help batsmen in stroke-making.
He said that batsmen will find it easier to adjust to the pace and bounce and will enjoy batting on such wickets, while pacers can also extract help from the surface to surprise the hosts.
"I think especially with white-ball cricket, the pitches are very good, they're true pitches, with good bounce and pace and for batters. In white-ball cricket, it is easier to adjust to these conditions and you get good value for shots. Obviously, Pakistan has also always had the luxury of good fast bowlers. That is the reason Pakistan has done well here,” Misbah added.
Pakistan have had success on their previous tours of South Africa and went on to win the ODI series against the hosts in 2013-14 under the leadership of Misbah. They have an impressive win-loss ratio of 6-7 against South Africa in their home conditions since 2013-14 and hence Misbah is quite confident in the prospects of the team before the start of the ODI series.