Azhar was a member of the Pakistan team that secured an impressive 2-2 draw in a recent four-Test series against England and is now looking for his side to hit similar heights in a five-match one-day global series starting in Southampton on Wednesday.
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Pakistan’s test skipper Misbahul Haq Monday extended greetings to the nation after his team topped the ICC Test rankings.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan branded the rise “historic”.
Misbah was delighted to become the first Pakistan captain to inspire his side to the top of the Test rankings, when he said: “There is no greater feeling than to achieve the number-one ranking in the most traditional and purest format of the sport”.
West Indies and India will play two Twenty20 Internationals in Lauderhill, Florida, on August 27 and 28 as both teams seek to tap into the huge expatriate Indian population in the United States.
Ravichandran Aswin rounded off the four-Test series against the West Indies with two centuries and 17 wickets and the India spinner-turned-all-rounder said he had expected a handsome return from the tour. “Our one-day ranking is not great right now but we will take the opportunity and the way the team is performing, hopefully we can convert it into ODIs as well”.
Unable to play at home since a 2009 militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore and shorn of bowling prospect Mohammad Amir in the wake of a damaging spot-fixing scandal at the Oval in 2010, Pakistan have ploughed a lonely furrow in cricket’s wilderness. We lost a day of cricket in Jamaica.
Rain halted play just before lunch on last Thursday’s opening day and the action never resumed, raising huge questions about the historic ground’s drainage system and mopping up operations. But lack of action forced India to relinquish top spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings to Pakistan, less than a week after taking over the position from Australia. To top the Test table, which boasts some of the best sides and players, is something to be very proud of. “You want to be the best side in the world and that has always been our aim”. “For that, it’s disappointing that we weren’t consistent enough”.
Pakistan have played in the UAE.
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The former Test player said not only did coaches need to work closer together and understand what was required at the highest level, but there was a need for improvement in facilities. Rankings keep going up and down, and you don’t play for rankings.
