Misbah needs ‘aggressive’ approach to succeed: Abbas

Lahore: Former Pakistan skipper Zaheer Abbas has said captain Misbah-ul- Haq should adopt a more aggressive approach, especially against a weaker opposition like Bangladesh.

He added that the Pakistan team appeared to be defending rather than attacking Bangladesh in the ongoing Test match. Abbas said a captain who possesses a defensive approach to the game would not be able to succeed in the long run. “If a captain has a negative approach, he can’t carry on for long. You need to have a positive and attacking mindset to succeed in contemporary cricket,” a leading daily quoted Abbas, as saying. He also backed Pakistan to perform well in the upcoming series against England in the UAE. “Pakistan usually play well on the UAE pitches and are in excellent form. I think they’ll produce some good results against England. The series will be good to watch and the team has every chance of notching up another series victory,” he said. Abbas raised concerns over the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) backing Bangladesh Cricket Board Mustafa Kamal for the International Cricket Council (ICC) president in return for a tour of the country in 2012. “I think there’s a possibility of undue Indian influence over the Bangladesh Cricket Board, which is worrying. Bangladesh may end up backing out of the tour because of this influence after obtaining PCB’s support over the ICC presidency,” Abbas said. ANI