Comment: Methodical Misbah joins elite club of captains

The mere fact that he has survived four years at the top is nothing less than a miracle in itself.

KARACHI: Four years into arguably the toughest job in the game, Misbahul Haq — the unassuming leader of Pakistan — leapfrogs greats like Javed Miandad and Imran Khan to top the list of successful Test captains from the country.

The mere fact that he has survived four years at the top in perhaps the most tumultuous of times for the mercurial sub-continental cricketing giants is nothing less than a miracle in itself.

Among the myriad of problems confronting Pakistan, perhaps the conundrum of playing cricket outside their home venue remains the most painful.

Yesterday, Misbah led his team to a commanding 248-run win over a clueless New Zealand side to make it to 15 wins. And all of his Test wins as captain have been recorded outside Pakistan. None of his 32 Tests at the helm were played in his country and to date he hasn’t enjoyed a single moment of success with a deafening 30,000 strong crowd to support him and his men in Karachi or Lahore.

But the UAE has embraced Misbah and his men with open arms; nine out of the 15 wins achieved under Misbah have been recorded there.

Pakistan haven’t lost a single Test series in the desert since starting their ‘home’ stint there in 2010 and, off late, have razed Antipodeans to dust with consummate ease, albeit in largely empty stadiums.

When Misbah took over the reins, Pakistan were in the depths of despair. The damning spot-fixing scandal forced the then Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt to invest in a stable option in the shape of Misbah.

Butt’s reign at the PCB is widely regarded as the most controversial and troublesome in the chequered history of Pakistan cricket, but Butt did make one decent choice and his successors — Zaka Ashraf, Najam Sethi and Shaharyar Khan — also placed their faith in Misbah amidst repeated calls for his sacking.

Most critics felt that Misbah had a one-dimensional game and an attritional, safety-first approach as captain that cost Pakistan dearly on numerous occasions.

The fact remains that Misbah’s achievements, at least statistically, place him on the top of the pile of Pakistan captains, but his exploits outside ‘home’ conditions leave a lot to be desired.

Imran, and Javed to a lesser extent, never endured a wretched series both in and outside Pakistan. Under Imran, ground-breaking series wins in England and India were recorded, while the team went shoulder to shoulder with the most dominant team of that era, the West Indies, in a drawn Test series in the 80s.

Misbah-led Pakistan sides have been whitewashed both in South Africa and Sri Lanka and the batsman is yet to lead the team in England, Australia or India. In fact, Misbah has never had to take to the field as captain in the pressure-cooker situation of an Indo-Pak Test match.

On the flip side, one can argue that Misbah never had the cushion of playing at home and the teams in his era have remained devoid of superstars too. Unlike Imran, who had the luxury of a fast bowling attack comprising of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran himself, Misbah had to make the most out of comparatively inferior bowling attacks.

While the debate on the best ever captain of Pakistan will continue to rage on, the connoisseurs of the game must sit back and reflect on two vital ingredients of Misbah’s recipe of success; stability and the ability to regroup in torrid times.

Time is not on Misbah’s side and he might never get the chance to test his captaincy in Australia, England or the cauldron of Kolkata, yet his exploits in UAE must be given their due space in the annals of Pakistan cricket.

 

 

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