Why would I, or anyone else, be averse to Misbah’s inclusion in the team if he can do this consistently?
RAWALPINDI: This is with reference to Aina Maria Waseem’s article “In defence of Misbah” (July 24). I have always credited Misbahul Haq for his performances in Test cricket. Pakistan’s elevation to the fourth spot in the Test rankings some time back was flabbergasting for a lot of people even in Pakistan, although it is disappointing that our ranking has fallen recently.
Misbah’s performance in the fourth One-Day International against the West Indies, however, has confused me a lot.
This is a man who seems almost alien to the concept of rotating the strike but his last innings showed that he is a match-winning middle order batsman as his innings was all about taking singles and doubles. Why would I, or anyone else for that matter, be averse to Misbah’s inclusion in the team if he can do this consistently?
We often find other teams reeling from top-order failures but the batsmen who turn out to be the stabilising influence in their batting line-up happen to strike a pretty good balance between keeping wickets in hand and getting the scoreboard moving. That is all Pakistani cricket fans want from Misbah. Our chances of success would increase tremendously if he actually strikes that balance on a consistent basis.
We need to be able to chase competitive targets and it is paramount for our middle order, led obviously by Misbah, to show more urgency at the crease.
Waqar Hasan
Published in The Express Tribune, July 24th, 2013.
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