A few suns ago, Nawabzada Shahryar Khan, the hardnosed cricket diplomat who is usually in control of his brain, dropped a clanger. Speaking at an interview, the PCB chief rated Misbahul Haq as a better captain than Imran Khan. Hang up your boots Shahryar sahib, you seem to be hitting that awkward age. With a flurry of international assignments as a foreign diplomat, and a few well scripted books on cricket, I always thought of him as someone who knows his onions well. Statistically speaking, he is not completely out of his depth, as Misbah truly is the most successful captain in the country’s history. In a total of 56 test matches under Misbah, Pakistan won 26, lost 19 and drew 11. But in comparison Imran’s balance sheet as captain was no less than impressive. On the credit side, he had 14 wins, while on the debit side, he had a mere eight loses, whereas the remainder 26 hard fought battles ended without a result. Both Misbah and Imran inherited weak sides, rescued them and made up the leeway. Both were cricket nutters and were exceedingly hard working at their craft. While Misbah has been a leech of a batsman, Imran was perhaps one of the greatest all-rounders the world has ever known. All those fervent Imran die-hards, keep your pecker up as I totally perish the thought of Misbah being the better captain.
I say this for two chief reasons. Firstly, Imran ruled the roost at a time when the quality of world cricket was notches higher than what it is now. The period between 1980 and 1992 saw some of the most professionally testing cricket in the history of the game. There was an oversupply of gifted players. County cricket was at its pinnacle. The West Indians cricket team continued to produce a spate of toe crushing quickies and they had Sir Vivian Richards who could club a cricket ball with ego shattering consistency. The Ashes was exciting and closely fought. The English batting line up, in David Gower, finally found someone, who, once in, played with a Caribbean flair and swagger. They also had Ian Botham, the perky all-rounder of devastating ability. The Australians were littered with talent with the likes of Allan Border, Steve Waugh, David Boon, Dean Jones, Geoff Marsh and Mark Waugh, in their ranks. Here in South Asia, the Indians boasted of a batting lineup, with some ceaseless depth, containing the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Viswanath, Vengsarkar, Mohammad Azharuddin and Kapil Dev. The Sri Lankans were new to the club, but were beginning to showcase their craft in short spurts. This was the world that Imran’s men took on, and, with commendable success.
Secondly, Imran was a selfless player. More of a reformer, he was endowed with a scouting bone in his frame. As captain, much like Kardar before him, he had the audacity to take on the cricket bureaucracy, and played a dominating role in team selection. His plans for the future, yielded players like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Inzamamul Haq, Saeed Anwar, Abdul Qadir, and Aqib Javed. Much of the success that Pakistan cricket enjoyed in the 1990s can be attributed to Imran’s scouting a decade earlier. Sadly, Misbah’s departure runs the risk of our national team going down like ninepins, at least in the short term. Did Misbah reward us with another Akram or Anwar? I am afraid he did not. Despite his many heroics both with the bat and as leader of the green kits, Misbah’s legacy may not be as telling and certainly as enduring as that of Imran’s. No despairing Misbah. Keep your chin up, as you remain right at the top of the heap. You have been the life and soul of our cricket over the past decade, particularly at a time when our chips were down and foreign teams had all but abandoned descending upon the country. Kudos to you for exhibiting such grit. The thought of someone else filling your boots freezes my blood.
The writer is an alumnus of University of Cambridge and previously worked as a journalist in London. He has also played for Pakistan’s junior cricket team. He can be reached at [email protected]