Broken bats, trick shots and wrong'uns – Dubai had it all

Watching Adil Rashid and Mark Wood stretch their ninth-wicket partnership into the last hour of our match in Dubai, we were a bit worried and the frustration was building.

England’s batting tail is very small and their No.11, Jimmy Anderson, has saved many Tests for his country, so we were slightly perturbed.

But at the same time we knew that we were just two good balls away from victory. Even if the game had gone until the penultimate ball, we would have clinched victory by taking wickets in the last two balls. We didn’t lose hope.

The best part of the latter stages of the match was that every player on the field was looking for an opportunity to finish the game.

All 10 fielders were on their toes waiting for the catch with no one wanting to waste the effort we had put in over the course of five days. We kept fighting until the very last moment.

The plan was to bowl consistently on the same line and wait for the batsman to make mistake. And at the end of the day, our patience paid off and we managed to win.

I think England deserve credit for the way they played and fought because playing in Dubai is never easy for visiting teams.

Asian teams may not find it difficult but the foreign nations struggle at this venue because the pitch is slow and has more turn. The batting in Dubai becomes difficult day by day so I feel England put up a good show.

They were in a pretty decent position until the morning of the third day, but Wahab Riaz’s fast and furious nine-over spell totally changed the complexion of the game.

Not only did he break the partnership he also contained the runs, which helped us claim a crucial 136-run lead.

It's not wrong to say that his spell was the turning point of the match.

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Wahab's spell on the third morning turned the match says Misbah // Getty

I have previously seen Umar Gul and Junaid Khan bowl some good spells in these conditions but considering the situation of the match and the aggression with which Wahab bowled, I think it was the best spell from a Pakistan pacer in the past few years.

I normally don’t use fast bowlers in spells of more than five or six overs as the conditions in the UAE are very hot and humid, but Wahab was really pumped up on that third morning and eager to bowl more and more so I didn’t want to stop him.

I didn't want to break his rhythm, plus we desperately needed wickets at that stage. Credit must be given to him for bowling a lengthy and controlled spell in the challenging conditions.

Yasir Shah also bowled extremely well in Dubai, but one of his eight wickets should go to me!

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Bairstow departs, defeated // Getty

Jonny Bairstow was reading Yasir's leg spin very well in the second innings, leaving all the deliveries that were turning away from the off-stump line.

As a batsman, I knew that a wrong'un at this stage would bamboozle him because he was mostly thinking about leaving the ball. So I asked Yasir to bowl three or four googlies on the trot.

It didn’t take long and the very first googly worked a treat. If the batsman is mostly thinking about leaving the ball, then the chances of making a mistake increase and that is exactly what happened with Bairstow.

There were some fine performances by other players throughout the match as well. Asad Shafiq’s 80-odd runs in the both innings and Younis Khan’s century were both commendable efforts. Even Mohammad Hafeez’s fifty at a crucial stage of the second innings cannot be overlooked.

Broken bats and trick-shots

Even though I scored a hundred in the first innings and 87 in the second, I was bit disappointed with myself for not adding to my overnight score twice in the match.

When you're starting a new day it is as if you are starting a new innings because you need time to settle. The England pacers are more dangerous to face in the morning, which I went for some quick runs off Moeen Ali’s last over of the first day.

There are always phases in the innings when it becomes difficult to score 15 runs in even 10 overs, so the idea was to take 15 runs from Moeen's over alone.

It wasn’t that I wanted to complete my hundred before the close of play. I wouldn't have taken the risk had they placed fielders on the boundary, but as all the fielders were up I sensed an opportunity to add runs in the team’s total. And it worked.

There was a perception among some of the television viewers that I was playing with a broken bat during my century and the commentators believed I didn't change it because it was my lucky bat and I was being superstitious. But it was actually the first time I'd played with that bat and it might surprise the readers to know that it wasn’t broken at all.

The bats that I use normally have thin handles with flexibility in them and there was just a slight bend in this one, which I fixed.

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Misbah salutes his Dubai century // Getty

The interesting part is that I went on to score hundred with that same bat. I changed it for about an over or so but didn’t feel comfortable with the other bat so during the drinks break I asked Ahmad Shahzad to bring my original back out for me. And after that I hit five sixes off Rashid and Moeen!

Another incident in the game that viewers found interesting was me changing a sweep shot into cut at the last moment.

I was expecting the ball to be slightly full in length, but Rashid bowled it short and when I sensed James Anderson changing his position in the slips I changed my shot too.

It all happened instinctively. It also happened during the series against Australia last year, when I changed a reverse-sweep into paddle sweep at the last moment off Michael Clarke’s bowling.

WATCH: Misbah's trick shots against Australia and England

I don’t think you plan these shots. It all happens instinctively and I am happy that the shots I'm playing are yielding runs for me and my team. I hope I will continue to produce runs that help Pakistan win Test matches.

On retirement and welcoming Warne

I have been asked in the past few days if this is going to be my last Test. To be honest, I haven't made a decision on my retirement yet. I don’t know if we will be playing against India this season or if there will be an alternative series coming up, so I've not made up mind yet.

The fans tell me I shouldn’t retire because I am fit and still scoring runs, but I think that is the wrong concept. Retirement is not about losing form or fitness; one shouldn’t relate retirement with these factors. In my view, a player should retire on high. If he retires on a high he will leave cricket with respect. One should think about leaving the game with respect rather than leaving it when he is forced to leave.

Quick Single: Warne's high praise for Yasir

We will have Azhar Ali back for the next Test and his comeback will strengthen our batting unit, but we haven't yet decided who will drop out of the side.

Azhar will surely find his place in the XI as he has been an integral part of our team from the last few years and has played an important role in our victories. Our team will certainly be boosted by his comeback.

We also had the legendary Shane Warne come to practice with Yasir in the nets. It was unexpected, but he will always be welcome at our training.

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Warne with Yasir at Pakistan's session in Sharjah // cricket.com.au

I think Yasir can learn a lot from him. He is already learning plenty from Mushtaq Ahmed and if another great leg spinner joins us, Yasir will surely learn more and it will also increase his confidence.

The confidence of the whole team has certainly increased after the win in Dubai and now we're looking to win the next match to become No.2 in the ICC Test Rankings.