LAHORE: Expressing optimism about the prospect of Team Pakistan in the upcoming series against West Indies, Head Coach Misbah-ul-Haq said on Saturday that the conditions in the last two matches in England and in West Indies were same so he expects players to do well.

While talking to the media in a virtual media conference, Misbah said, "After playing in England, we had some good practice and the conditions in the last two matches in England were same as in Abu Dhabi and like here in West Indies so I expect players to do well here. We are near to our final combination. Our middle-order is not performing as well as our top order. We didn't get the desired results in England series, but we know about our combination."

He expressed his confidence in the team and said, "Before England series, the series we played had very good results. Overall the team is very good."

It may be noted that Pakistan will take on West Indies in the five-match T20I series starting from 27 July at Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Mentioning about the importance of these matches ahead of the mega event, Misbah said, "Each and every game from here is very important for us. We need to make improvement. I am hopeful we will do well in this series."

When asked about living in a bio-secure environment and how does it affect players physiologically, Misbah said, "Overall the scenario is the same in every sports activity so we have to live with that. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) are trying that players play in a safe environment. Staying in a bubble is always different as you don't have that social activities, and you have to travel from one bubble to another so there is always a difficulty, but cricket and other sports have to go on like this for some time so I guess everyone is trying to adapt."

Misbah was hopeful the bowling department will start to perform where it matters the most. He said, "Our performances were not as per our expectations in the bowling department. There were concerns at some stages and we are working on improving those."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021