Abdullah makes honest admission about Babar, Misbah

Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique has made an honest admission about skipper Babar Azam and former head coach Misbah-ul-Haq.

Shafique, who has scored 856 runs in eight Tests so far at an average of 65.84, has stated that Misbah and Babar have played a key role in his development as a batter.

"At that time [after team selection], our coach was Misbah-ul-Haq and he saw me and used to teach me so many things about cricket and batting especially. After that, our skipper Babar Azam used to watch me a lot and give me so much information about cricket,” Shafique told Michael Atherton during the ongoing second Test against England.

“It's a good thing that I had those type of seniors in my camp and I learned many things from them as a batsman - how they are patient with cricket, how they play the ball, how they used to practice, and their routines,” he added.

The talented right-hander scored a century in the first Test of the ongoing series against England in Rawalpindi. However, he could not replicate that achievement in the second Test.

“We are eagerly waiting for the series against England. It will be a challenge for us,” Shafique told Geo News before the series.

“We are a good Test side but just need to work on the small mistakes we make on the field,” he added.

Pakistan are 1-0 down in the three-match series against England after losing the first Test.

It must be noted that England took full advantage of winning the toss — and their batting depth — to win the first Test by 74 runs Monday on a dead wicket that offered nothing to the bowlers.

Rawalpindi yielded 1,768 runs in four innings — the third most in Test history — with seven individual centuries and five fifties.

England are on their first Test tour of Pakistan since 2005, having declined to visit in the interim years on security grounds.

The third and final Test of the series is in Karachi from December 17-21.