Misbah defends himself against 'slow, conservative batting' criticism

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq has defended himself against criticism of him being a slow scorer and insipid leader, saying that his run-scoring this year is a testament to his batting skills despite his side's batting flop against South Africa in the UAE.

Pakistan lost their five-match one-day series against South Africa 4-1 on Monday, after the batting failures that have dogged them for the past 18 months sunk them once again.

According to the Daily Times, however, Misbah has emerged as the world's leading scorer in one-day cricket this year with 1,119 runs in 26 matches, for which he believes that should silence the critics who say he bats too conservatively for the team.

However, Misbah admitted that poor batting let Pakistan down after they somehow contrived to throw away five wickets with just 17 needed to win, losing by a single run in the first ODI against South Africa and collapsed again in the fourth match in Abu Dhabi to lose by 28.

With Pakistan failing to bat out their 50 overs in all five matches against South Africa, Misbah, who is not in the team for the Twenty20s, also said that if a team performs in this way, then it is very difficult for them to win matches at the international level.