Head coach Misbah-ul-Haq hopes England 'will visit Pakistan soon' in PCB column

Pakistan’s head coach-cum-chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq has called on the England team to soon pay a return visit to his country and assured that there will no compromise on security of players. Pakistan and England just played out a three-match Test series in the United Kingdom, with the hosts winning it 1-0. “Looking into the future, we would really appreciate England visiting Pakistan soon,” Misbah said in column for the Pakistan Cricket Board. [caption id=“attachment_8477911” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  File image of Misbah-ul-Haq. AP[/caption] “A number of England players have appeared in the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020, which was played at home. Then, we had Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and MCC in the 2019-20 season and before that, the World XI and the West Indies in 2017-18.” International sides have avoided touring Pakistan for more than a decade since the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus. But Misbah vouched for the security situation in Pakistan. “Players from all over the world now know about the levels of security Pakistan can provide and how much they will be welcomed. “Pakistan cricket fans want to see top players in the world performing right in front of them so everybody is waiting for that visit,” he said. “This is one way that everyone can support each other in difficult times. The whole cricket community needs to support each other - that’s the only way to promote the game and bring joy to fans and cricket lovers.” Misbah, a former captain, said his young bowlers would do well to take a cue from veteran English pacer James Anderson, who on Tuesday became the first fast bowler in the history of Test cricket to take 600 wickets. “Anderson’s achievement of reaching 600 Test wickets is amazing. He has shown exceptional discipline, motivation and determination because fast bowling is the toughest job in cricket,” he said. “He has control, he’s tactically very smart and is always challenging the batsman. And it is important to remember that he’s there for Test cricket. “He has made his name in Test cricket and the love for the red-ball game is clearly there. That is something that our bowlers need to give priority to, especially the young bowlers,” Misbah said. The former batsman added, “Our bowlers have learned a lot from this series and it was great to see Shaheen (Shah Afridi) having the chance to talk about bowling with Jimmy Anderson after the Test had finished. “Learning from great fast bowlers will help them tactically.”