Pakistan Cricket Team's head coach Saqlain Mushtaq is hurt by Pakistan's whitewash in a three-match test series against England at home but does not want the series to haunting the squad forever.
He believes such things happen when you play versus a well-trained team, which has prepared over the years and not overnight to showcase a sharp approach. Visibly, Pakistan came close to victory in the Rawalpindi and Multan Tests, and Mushtaq too is gutted over the fact that his men did not end up on a winning note.
“In Rawalpindi and in Multan, there were moments when we were very close, there were times when we were looking to win the games, but it didn’t end in our favour,”
According to him, Saud Shakeel's controversial out was the major reason behind the team's loss in Multan.
“If you look at Multan Test, we were in a good position there as well. But, that out of Saud Shakeel, which everyone questioned, was a turning point. Otherwise, he had put us in a commanding position,”
He believes playing an inexperienced side versus the big team England with a majority of their power showers was a bold decision to make. Saqlain, at all, is not disappointed by the team's performances.
“In a longer format of the game, experience is key, and it helps you at a crucial stage; this is something that favoured England in the series. We have to learn from our mistakes, but it was a brave decision to play a young side-eyeing for the future,”
“These moments are part and parcel of a professional cricketer; if you allow them to pull you down, then you’ll not be able to move on and progress,”
Emphasizing the areas in a longer format which need to be worked on, he said,
“There are certain things which are exposed in a longer format, these things are usually under the carpet in the shorter format, but you need to be technically and tactically perfect in the longer format, and we’ve to improve in these areas,”
He, while analyzing where team stands momentarily, courageously accepts that Pakistan won't step up within a short span, but technically, things will take years to be on the same road as England.
“It won’t happen overnight, but we will have to work hard,”
“England did not adopt this policy overnight. They had gone through a thought process before applying this style, though there were times in this series as well when we forced them to get back to the traditional style of playing Test Cricket,”
