Babar has proved great cricketing sense with bat, has to prove it in captaincy now, says Misbah

Harare: Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq has praised skipper Babar Azam saying the youngster has a great cricketing sense. While Babar has already proved his credentials as a batsman, he has also now become the first Pakistan captain to win his first four games in charge.

"Captaincy is something that gets better with time. The more you face certain situations, the better you will be at it. Babar has a great cricketing sense, he has proved that in all formats with the bat already. He has to prove that now in his captaincy too. Hopefully, he'll do well in future too," he said after the series win against Zimbabwe.

The Pakistan team has also done well to cope with the bubble life and the coach praised the players for handling things well.

"These are unprecedented times that we're living in. Bio-bubble life is never easy. In earlier times, players used to get a lot of private time on tours, where they could travel or meet people to cool off between games. Now, once you're in a bubble, you have to stay there no matter what. Hats off to the team and management for handling it so well.

"International cricket is tough as it is and to perform well with the additional baggage is laudable. Commitment of the players and management is really good," he pointed.

Commenting on the player rotation policy, Misbah said: "We need to understand that these aren't normal times. So, we have bigger squads than they would otherwise be. Normally, a Test squad has 16 members while ODIs have 15. So, now that we have a bigger pool, you would see players who might not always get a game this early.

"It's an opportunity to test out new players with an eye for the future. Gives them good exposure. Against tougher series, we may not be able to rotate as much as it's important to fix your core side with the World Cup around the corner."