Misbah-ul-Haq confident of Pakistan giving Australia a tough fight in the Test series

Pakistan’s tour of Australia has started on a dismal note. Despite being the top-ranked T20I side in the world, the Men in Green were thoroughly outplayed by the hosts in the three-match T20I series. After the first game was washed out, Australia dismantled Pakistan by seven wickets and ten wickets in the next two games to wrap up the series.

Both the teams are now gearing up for the upcoming two-match Test series. Unsurprisingly, Australia will start as the firm favourites. With the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner back in the Test side, Pakistan face a herculean task in the series. However, their head coach and former captain Misbah-ul-Haq is confident the tourists could give the high-flying hosts a run for their money.

Misbah said Pakistan can make things tough for Australia if the batsmen score good number of runs. He pointed out that the likes of Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed are in good touch and thus the team is hopeful of putting up a good show in Tests. Babar scored two fifties in the T20I series while Iftikhar scored one and missed another by just 5 runs.

“Babar Azam is in good form, Iftikhar Ahmed is playing well, so the players are adjusting to the conditions. If we make a good number of runs in the Test matches, we have the bowling resources to give Australia a tough time,” said Misbah-ul-Haq as quoted by Pak Passion.

Pakistan dominate Australia A

Pakistan, meanwhile, performed extremely well on day one of the ongoing warm-up game against Australia A. Led by superb tons from Babar Azam and Asad Shafiq, the visitors came up with a stunning performance under the lights in Perth, finishing the day on a commanding 336 for 3. Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first but soon regretted the decision.

Their captain Azhar Ali was out for just 11 before Haris Sohail and Shan Masood also joined him in the pavilion, leaving Pakistan three down for just 60. But from there on, it was a tough day for Australia A as Babar and Shafiq put on an unbeaten stand of 276 runs. Babar was unbeaten on 157 while Shafiq was on 119 at the end of the day.

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