Misbah-Ul-Haq expects to recover from his hamstring injury in time for the World Cup ©
Misbah-ul-Haq expects Pakistan to go into the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 with a positive frame of mind despite the bowling suspensions of Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez and his own hamstring injury. The 41-year old also pointed out that injury problems to key players like himself, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan and some others were, however, not helping the buildup to the World Cup.
"Their (Ajmal and Hafeez) presence is key to performing well at the World Cup and I am hoping that their actions will be cleared in time for the event.As far as my fitness is concerned, I am taking it easy at the moment to allow the hamstring injury to heal properly," Misbah said.
"But I am pretty confident I will be back on the field atleast three to four weeks before the World Cup to get into the proper mode. I am hopeful that I will be fully fit for the event and I'm raring to get back on the field much before the World Cup," he added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman, Shaharyar Khan, backed his injured skipper to recover in time to lead Pakistan. "This is the first time that Misbah has copped an injury in his career and he is working hard to recover from it and I am confident he will be ready in time for the World Cup. He is a thorough professional and when he says he if fit, I'll be ready to back him all the way," Shaharyar was quoted as saying.
In Misbah's absence all-rounder Shahid Afridi led Pakistan against New Zealand in the ODI series, which Pakistan lost 2-3. "The one-day series losses to Australia and New Zealand were setbacks ahead of the World Cup. But there were also, lots of positives from these matches, the batting of Sarfaraz Ahmed, Haris Sohail turning into a proper all-rounder and the form of some of our top-order batsmen," Misbah opined.
"We have to go into the World Cup with a proper and positive frame of mind because it is a high pressure event and they are lot of expectations from the people," he said.
Misbah, who is now Pakistan's most successful Test captain with 15 wins, after Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, said there was no room for comparisons between the 'greats' and him. "There is no comparison with such great people like Imran and Miandad. They were better than me in every sense and always will be. I'm simply happy to have done my bits for Pakistan. Winning gives you nice feeling and I'm satisfied to have contributed my share in those wins," he said.
Pakistan open their World Cup campaign with a game against arch-rivals India on February 15, in Adelaide.
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