Misbah urges played to show improvement ahead of Asia Cup

Karachi: Pakistan`s One-day and Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq has asked his players to show more improvement in order to successfully defend their title in the forthcoming Asia Cup in Bangladesh.

Misbah told reporters in Lahore that with India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan among the participating nations, the Asia Cup would be a tough challenge for Pakistan. "No doubt we have achieved some good one-day results recently but this is a regional tournament and the pressures are different," he noted. "I think we need to show more improvement in some areas to play to our potential in the Asia Cup," he added. Pakistan will go into the tournament with a new head coach, batting coach and fielding coach with the Pakistan Cricket Board due to decide on the new appointments just days before the Asia Cup begins on February 16. "If we look at the competition in the tournament we need to improve and hopefully, Umar Gul and Muhammad Irfan will also be fit for the tournament," he said. Misbah insisted that not much attention should be paid to the recent results involving India, Sri Lanka or even Bangladesh in their one-day series. "Bangladesh will be playing at home...This will be a big advantage to them, while India and Sri Lanka always remain dangerous one-day sides," he said. "We will definitely be confident as we achieved good results in our last two one-day series, beating South Africa and a series triumph against Sri Lanka (in the UAE)," Misbah added. Misbah said all the teams were familiar with condition in the Bangladesh. "The conditions will not be to an advantage for any team as all the sides are well acclimatised with playing conditions in Bangladesh," he said. Misbah refused to comment on what kind of coach he would like for his team. "It`s in the cricket board`s domain and I feel any individual they will hire, will be in the team`s interest," he said. The skipper, however praised Dav Whatmore for his services to Pakistan cricket. "There were ups and downs but we enjoyed the game under Whatmore. We had some great victories under him. I am happy that he received the perfect farewell as he achieved a memorable Test victory (in Sharjah) in his last match as the head coach."