PROFILE
Misbah-ul-Haq will be forever remembered by cricket
fans for his audacious paddle scoop that cost Pakistan the inaugural T20 WC
against India. That one moment of madness from him, ensured that he will
forever be castigated for his mistake, despite having taken his side so close
to the target when there seemed to be no hope.
A very dour and dull batsman, Misbah first caught
the attention of the selectors in 2002 when he made truckloads of runs in the
domestic scene. He played well in the tri-nation tournament in Nairobi, but
subsequently his form deserted him and he was soon sidelined from the national
side.
With the departure of Inzamam, and with the solid
weight of domestic and county runs behind his name, Misbah made another
comeback into the national team in 2007. He finished as Pakistan's best player
in the T20 WC in 2007 and carried that form to India where he made a couple of
hundreds and finished with 464 runs in the three match test series.
More than the number of runs, it was the cool and
calm manner that he negotiated all that India threw at him that impressed
everybody. Suddenly he was proclaimed to to be the natural successor to Inzamam
and a future captain. 2008 began with some high points for Misbah as he was
elevated to the post of Vice - Captain of the Pakistan team and was awarded a
Grade A Contract. But his form slumped dramatically and he was axed from the
side from all three formats of the game. He didn't feature in the disastrous
trip to England in 2010 and was made captain of the Test side against South
Africa in late 2010.
Misbah led the side to a 0-0 draw against the
Proteas and then achieved a 1-0 series victory when Pakistan toured New Zealand
in early 2011. He was again roundly criticised for his painfully slow innings
during the World Cup semi-final loss to India, but he choose not to respond to
any of those criticisms. After Afridi's axing as the ODI skipper, Misbah was
given the ODI reigns as well. Misbah was a part of the Royal Challengers of
Bangalore during the inaugural edition of the IPL. In 2012, he was the captain
of the Pakistan team, which completed a clean sweep (3-0) against the then No.1
Test side England.
Misbah had a fantastic 2012/2013 domestic season. He
led his team the Faisalabad Wolves to the Championship title and eventually
qualifying them for the Champions League T20. Misbah won all domestic
tournaments (Twenty20, first-class and list-A) in the season 2012/13.
Misbah's captaincy came under serious scrutiny after
Pakistan lost the ODI series against South Africa in the UAE. However, the PCB
backed him up and declared him to be the captain until the 2015 World Cup.
Pakistan took their revenge against the Proteas by churning out a brilliant
performance in South Africa soon after it. Pakistan took the series 2-1
becoming the first sub-continent team to beat South Africa in a bilateral ODI
series at home. This historic win won Misbah many accolades across the country.
Pakistan replicated their strong performance against Sri Lanka winning the ODI
series comfortably and squaring the Test series 1-1, where Misbah played a
crucial role in the third Test. He was a stand-out in 2013, scoring over 1000
runs in a calendar year.
His brilliant form in recent times was subject to
much amusement among the cricketing fans. However, a poor run in the 2014 Asia
Cup on a personal level and Pakistan's inability to win the final, again
brought his captaincy skills under severe criticism.
Despite all this, Misbah has been a widely respected
captain, staying away from malevolent controversies throughout his carres. He
is astute in managing this most unpredictable team in the cricketing world
owing to a Master's degree in business management.
Interesting fact: Misbah went past Wasim Akram
becoming the player to have the most ODI runs to his name without scoring a
century.
Source: By Cricbuzz staff
As of March 2014
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