Former Test captain Misbahul Haq has given a lot to Pakistan cricket. He will always be remembered for providing Pakistan cricket stability and helping the team to attain the No. 1 Test ranking. Along with Younus Khan, he was the pillar of Pakistan’s batting line-up. Misbah, born in Mianwali on May 28, 1974, has an MBA degree in HRM from the University of Management and Technology in Lahore. Admired for his unflappable temperament in a Pakistan dressing room teeming with mercurial talents, Misbah, who was named as one of Wisden’s prestigious Five Cricketers of the Year in 2017, was handed the Test captaincy after a 2010 spot-fixing scandal in England which led to a ban on, among others, his predecessor Salman Butt. Taking over as leader immediately after that episode at the age of 36, Misbah’s calm approach was exactly what Pakistan cricket needed after the tumultuous period it had gone through. Since his 2001 Test debut in New Zealand, Misbah had gone on to make 5222 runs from 75 matches at a 46-plus average. The top order batsman also played 162 one-dayers before quitting the format after the 2015 World Cup. Pakistan won 26 of their 56 Tests under Misbah and, for the first time, occupied the top ICC Test Ranking in 2016.
Misbah, who holds the world record of scoring most runs without a century in ODI career, also holds the record of the fastest Test half century and shares the record for second fastest Test century with Sir Vivian Richards of West Indies. Misbah registered 11 Test series wins as a captain, which was the most by an Asian skipper. In 2016, he surpassed Indian duo of Saurav Ganguly and MS Dhoni, who both had won nine Test series each. For Pakistan, next to Misbah is Javed Miandad who had led Pakistan in eight series victories. He is only the fourth Pakistan captain to win his last Test, other three were AH Kardar, Imran Khan and Rashid Latif. Misbah is also the first, and only, Asian captain to win three Test matches in West Indies. He won one Test in 2011 series and two Tests in 2017 series.
Misbah had often been criticised for his defensive and conservative approach as captain, including by the local media, although he had stated that he would rather win a game being defensive than lose one being aggressive. He had always urged critics to support the Pakistan team and refrain from subjective criticism. As a batsman, Misbah could either defend dourly with unflagging patience, or irritate bowlers with his improvisations. His defensive technique was sound: that solid foundation had helped him bat for long periods in Test cricket.
That aspect of his game was in evidence right from his first Test innings in 2001, when he survived over two hours to score 28 in Auckland. He should have played much more international cricket thereafter, but was held back by his inconsistency. After the 2003 World Cup, Pakistan cricket tried to enter a new phase – a whole new generation of cricketers was inducted, the first-class system was tweaked, and the domestic pitches were changed. Misbah was on the outside looking in. For four years between 2003 and 2007, he didn’t play a single Test, and only turned up for a handful of ODIs.
However, a run-filled domestic season, followed by club cricket in England and Inzamamul Haq’s retirement from ODIs, prompted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to award Misbah a central contract in July 2007. A month later, he was surprisingly picked, ahead of Mohammad Yousuf, for the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. He repaid the selectors’ faith by finishing the tournament as Pakistan’s best player and nearly taking them to victory in the final. He continued the good run on the tour to India later that year, scoring two hundreds, each of which spanned more than 400 minutes.
However, it was in 2011 that Misbah truly rose above the crowd and established his credentials as a top-class batsman and a leader of men. He was in charge when Pakistan completed one of their greatest Test series wins – a 3-0 sweep over the then No. 1 side England in early 2012. Perhaps it’s his degree in business management that had helped him manage, and get the best out of, a team as unpredictable as Pakistan. During his illustrious career, Misbah showed to all and sundry that it isn’t enough to be talented. If you want to make it to the top, to be the best you can, to get the most out of yourself, you have to work hard, harder than you ever have before, harder than anyone else.
Published in Daily Times, August 15th 2017.