‘Team improved on the tour’

Manager Intikhab Alam wants continuity from the side after UAE series.

ABU DHABI: Following the drawn Test series, Pakistan manager Intikhab Alam has said that the team has finally put an indifferent year behind them and the off-field controversies that have dogged them recently were a thing of the past.

After losing the Twenty20 and the One-Day International series, Pakistan managed to hold South Africa to a draw in the five-day format, twice needing to bat out the final day to avoid losing the match.

“The important issue was discipline,” Alam told The Express Tribune. “The players’ behaviour was excellent and that’s why we had a very good tour. It’s like a new beginning for us.”

After the spot-fixing allegations that surfaced on the tour of England, Pakistan faced yet another controversy in the UAE in the form of the sudden departure of wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider to the UK. The manager, though, confirmed that Haider’s act failed to distract the rest of the squad.

“The players were directed to stay focused on cricket. We gave each player an individual goal. Our openers look stable, the middle-order – which has been always under pressure in the past – now looks good. We struggled with our bowling but you just can’t criticise them as the pitches in the UAE were never bowler-friendly. It’s always hard to bowl on these kind of tracks.”

Despite finishing off the ‘home’ series with just two wins out of nine matches, Alam remained confident that the continuity gained in the Test series will be carried on in the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2010.