Pakistan’s head coach-cum-chief selector Misbahul Haq has claimed that their side had proved them wrong after displaying their fitness in the initial training sessions, ahead of the upcoming series against England despite such a lengthy lay-off due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

The 46-year-old claimed that the players were recovering very well and were getting better with each training session.

“After a long time, all the players have come for practice. It is nice to see that the problems we were expecting have not happened even after such a long time. Overall, the players are physically fit while their skills are better than we expected. After training, they seem to be getting better. There are great facilities here and the boys are getting ample time. Overall, I think everyone is recovering everything very quickly,” Misbah said, according to a video released by the PCB.

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Misbah revealed their plans for training for the England series which was by pitting the squad against each other in order to get match-practice.

“As far as the matches go, we will try to pair them up and give them time in the middle. Every player should get one session. Five bowlers should be assigned a set of 90 overs for a day. We will try to move forward by pitting the squad against each other by making two teams. We will try to play four-day cricket in a similar manner,” he said.

The head coach believed that this training will bode well for Pakistan in their future series as well during these troubling times.

“Looking forward is very important for us. Bowlers need to face match scenarios because match practice is very important if you haven’t played in a while. It is important for us to utilise our entire pool of players. There is a lot of thinking and planning behind this tour. There is a plan for each player according to the red-ball and white-ball. This will bode well for the future as well. These few months will lead to great team bonding for future series as well,” he concluded.

According to the tentative schedule of the series, the first Test will be played on August 5 in Manchester. Pakistan will play the remaining two games in Southampton, starting on August 13 and 21 respectively.

Pakistan will also play three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) in Southampton on August 29, 31 and September 2.