Misbah questions Pakistan’s chances to ‘improve’ by facing smaller teams

Monitoring Desk

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq on Wednesday expressed doubts over the national men’s cricket team’s chances to improve without facing strong oppositions like Australia and England.

The Green Shirts, who were crowned the T20 champions in 2009, suffered a group-stage exit from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, co-hosted by West Indies and the United States of America (USA).

Following the T20 World Cup debacle, Pakistan played only three bilateral series against higher-ranked teams – Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The national team played three matches each against Australia and South Africa last year, while touring New Zealand for a five-match series earlier this year, and lost all of the major assignments.

Since then, they have played two series against Bangladesh on a home and away basis, one against West Indies and a tri-series against Afghanistan and hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE), out of which, they lost the away assignment against the Tigers.

Although Pakistan have only three defeats in their last 14 T20Is, former captain and coach Misbah asserted playing against smaller teams would hinder their progress. He also expressed concerns over the lack of competition with stronger opposition.

“Pakistan doesn’t play against India, and faces big teams like England and Australia once every two years while continuously playing against smaller teams, then how will the Pakistan cricket team improve?” Misbah questioned while speaking at a local sports programme. Misbah’s remarks came when Pakistan, led by Salman Ali Agha, are set to compete in the ongoing ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025. The former champions will start their campaign against Oman on Friday.