"The interest of the youth is really losing out to other sports," Misbah said on Tuesday (August 2) ahead of the third Test against England. "It's one area where you can say we are really unlucky and we want international cricket back in Pakistan, just to help our youngsters and just to help cricket in Pakistan.
"If you are not watching the heroes and the top stars in the world in the grounds and you are not meeting them... That could be a big attraction for them to play cricket. Without that, it's really difficult for the Pakistan Cricket Board and it can really hurt them financially also."
With England all set to play their 500th Test at home, Misbah was asked about the situation back home. Pakistan have been playing their home matches in the United Arab Emirates since the 2009 attacks on the visiting Sri Lankan team's bus. Only once in this period they were able to host an international team when Zimbabwe agreed to tour for a limited-overs series in 2015.
The 42-year-old feels that Pakistan's development has been stalled as a result of playing away from home and has called for a more sporty atmosphere for the youth to get inspired."It can really hurt your overall development as a cricketing nation," Misbah said. "Your youth can really be inspired if you are playing internationally back at home. Obviously, you can build more infrastructure and people read more about cricket.
"At school level, club level, the activity has just dropped a little bit because of that. You can see wherever the World Cups are, or international events, the whole scenario changes, it's like a fever in that country for that sport. That's what we have been really missing. We need more sports atmosphere in Pakistan. We must understand that even in our schools, our colleges and our homes, how important sports is for a kid."
He also commended the efforts of the Pakistan government and the army when asked about the country's current situation. "That (the security situation) has been improving a lot. The Pakistan government, the army, everybody is really working hard on that. Hopefully, it will be better in the coming future."
Even though Pakistan enjoy a strong support in UAE, the crowds generally throng the stadiums only for limited-overs cricket. Playing in front of livelier crowds in the first two Tests on this tour has been an enjoyable experience for the Pakistan skipper."It's always good to play in an atmosphere like that. This is why you play cricket or any sport, that people are there to enjoy and cheer. Sometimes that really helps you to perform and show your skills to everyone.
"As for the previous two Test matches, I've really enjoyed the atmosphere. It's really good to play Test cricket here. We are not used to that, we normally have such huge crowds in the one-day and T20 games but not Tests. That's really good to have in Test cricket."
Meanwhile, England announced their playing XI and confirmed the return of Steven Finn in place of the injured Ben Stokes but Misbah refused to reveal his team for the big clash. "We are sure, no doubts. Keep them guessing," he said.
The skipper then revealed that his side will be targeting Alastair Cook and Joe Root, the two in-form batsmen from the opposition camp, in order to put more pressure on their misfiring middle-order. "In every team there are key players and at the moment those two are in really good form.
"If you really have to put pressure on the opposition, it's important to get their main players out because those are the two pillars of their batting.Psychologically, that can also give you an advantage and damage the opposition if you can get them early, because other (members in the) batting line-up are struggling at the moment. That's really important for us to just get them (Cook and Root) early and put them (England) under pressure." he concluded.
No comments:
Post a Comment