I\u2019m not the kind of person who would linger on if I wasn\u2019t having fun: Misbah<\/p>\n
Kingston
\nIf you had glanced at the weather forecast for Kingston last Friday, you might have been forgiven for wondering if the city had any business hosting a Test match. There was rain expected across all five days, with dry spells in between. When Misbah-ul-Haq looked at it, he knew there was only one plausible path to victory, which his team achieved shortly after lunch on the fifth day.
\nMisbah himself played no small part. Having contributed 99 not out to stretch the first-innings lead, which eventually proved decisive, he came out to biff two successive sixes to seal the game. Soon after, Misbah said the thought of this being his final series hadn\u2019t prevented him from playing without having fun.
\n\u201cIf you\u2019re not enjoying yourself, then there\u2019s no point of playing. I\u2019m not the kind of person who would linger on if I wasn\u2019t having fun,\u201d he said. \u201cThese wins are special, and this is one more Test match that the team has given to me as a gift.\u201d
\nWhile the batsmen\u2019s role in giving a first-innings cushion can\u2019t be overstated, it was the bowlers who ensured victory was possible despite losing almost all of the second day to rain. \u201cWith tricky weather, the idea was to win the toss and bowl first,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just had one chance to get them out quickly and then play one good innings. Otherwise it wasn\u2019t going to be possible.
\n\u201cWe knew that it was going to be tough batting on the fifth day. I think the bowlers did very well. In the first innings (Mohammad) Amir, especially, his spell was crucial. In the second innings, again Amir and especially Yasir\u2019s spell was incredible. Getting six wickets this morning in no time was the game changer.\u201d
\nThe one worry Pakistan could have is that going in with just one spin bowler risks overworking the faster bowlers. This concern, however, did not manifest itself during the game, with West Indies lasting just 147.4 overs across both innings.
\nWith 19-year old Shadab Khan, who impressed during the limited-overs leg of the series, waiting in the wings, Misbah admitted that playing a second legspinner was a possibility, but said a call would only be taken after assessing the conditions.
\n\u201cOur combination will depend on the conditions we get, and especially how the pitch looks before the Test match,\u201d he said. \u201cThis pitch had a lot of moisture and that is why we opted to bowl first and go with three seamers. With our combination, it\u2019s difficult, it\u2019s difficult to sneak in the fifth bowler, especially since we have six specialist batsmen, so having three fast bowlers and two spinners becomes tricky.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m not the kind of person who would linger on if I wasn\u2019t having fun: Misbah Kingston If you had glanced at the weather forecast for Kingston last Friday, you might have been forgiven for wondering if the city had any business hosting a Test match. There was rain expected across all five days, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n