SHARJAH: Pakistan cricket team coach Waqar Younis Monday showed confidence his team can win the series despite New Zealand staging a comeback to draw the second Test in Dubai, saying if his players keep the basics, they are capable of winning the series.
Pakistan are 1-0 up in the three-match series after winning the first Test in Abu Dhabi by 248 runs but were under pressure in the drawn second Test in Dubai.
The third and final Test starts in Sharjah from Wednesday.
But Waqar played down the draw.
"Test cricket is like that. You have to be cautious about any team, it doesn’t matter if it’s Australia or New Zealand; they are all fine sides. We need to be doing what best we can do and we drew the second Test but we are definitely capable of doing well and win the series,” Waqar told reporters after team's practice session in Sharjah.
Waqar stressed that focus should be on keeping good things intact.
"I think we are playing good cricket in the last five-six weeks and that’s what we want to carry on and make sure to keep our basics right, what we are doing and hopefully this Test we keep doing that," said Waqar.
Waqar admitted toss remains crucial as team winning on the spin of the coin has dictated terms in the two Tests.
"Look in this part of the world where the pitches are more conducive for spin, the captains want to bat first and they are entitled to do that ... and why not because toss plays a vital role but you have to play good cricket to win a Test. It’s not an hour or two game or a day , it’s a five day game," said Waqar, who also captained Pakistan.
Waqar admitted Sharjah is Pakistan's happy hunting ground.
"We have played quite a bit of cricket here – ODIs and Tests – and we are sure we are going to do well here but we are not going to do anything else than what we did in the first two Tests."
Waqar said he was happy with the performance of the openers, especially Shan Masood.
"I am pretty happy with the youngsters, especially Shan, the one he played a small gutsy one in the second innings, he is one for the future.
"Unfortunately, he had to miss out in the first Test. He is one for the future. We had two very good openers in the first Test but one had to go because of the injury and the other one with injury and bowling action report so the two new openers came and did well," said Waqar, who stressed fielding needs improvement.
"We have debated in fielding that it was not good in the second Test so we have to overcome all these frailties in fielding and we are going to do that. Wicket-keeping is a very thankless job, you take a brilliant catch and then drop one, on these kind of pitches it’s tough because the ball is low and slow."
Waqar said besides spin, reverse swing will also play a part.
"Reverse swing plays a part in the UAE but the kind of reverse swing we want to see is not here, the bowlers, maybe the pacers don’t have that speed of 150 plus but it is reverse swinging so it will play a part, as it did in Abu Dhabi and Dubai."
