Misbah-ul-Haq
Name: Misbah-ul-Haq
Birth date: May 28, 1974
Hometown: Mianwali
Teams: Pakistan, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Khan Research Labs, Sargodha
Debut: Test: March 8, 2001 l ODI: April 27, 2002 l T20I: September 2, 2007
Despite being a heavyweight run scorer in the domestic scene in Pakistan, Misbah-ul-Haq simply couldn’t break into a team boasting a middle order of Inzamam, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.
A brief, and disppointing flirtation with the Pakistan team in a number of low level tournaments in 2002 resulting in him being dropped. When another opportunity arose against Australia, he disappointed again in the Test series, failing to live up to his promise and that sealed his fate – it should have been the end of his international career.
But Misbah is a fighter. He returned to domestic cricket, enjoying a prolific 2006-7 and this coincided with Pakistan’s humiliation in the 2007 World Cup, Inzamam’s retirement from cricket and a successful stint in English Club Cricket.
At the age of 33, Misbah was back – he was awarded a PCB Contract, and in another stroke of fortune, he was drafted in to replace Mohammad Yousuf for the 2007 World T20, held in South Africa.
He was one of the sensations of tournament – a super-cool individual, who virtually single-handedly guided Pakistan to the final with some truly amazing innings.
Whilst the final will be remembered for ‘that shot’ at the end of the game, Misbah was 1 shot away from taking Pakistan to World T20 glory.
He appears unfazed and unflappable out in the middle – reminiscent of the man he has replaced in the squad, and this temperament has seen him establish himself as one of Pakistan’s premier batsman.
The renaissance of Misbah-ul-Haq has been extraordinary – He is ‘Mr Dependable!, and is making the best use of his new found opportunity.
After 2 scintillating test centuries against India in 2007, he was rewarded with the Pakistani Vice-Captaincy.
However the year 2009 was a tough one for Misbah and he had a tough time in all versions of the game. In 13 matches, he averaged 33 at a slow strike rate of 65 and in Tests his average was a poor 28. With youngsters such as Fawad Alam and Umar Akmal starting to deliver, Misbah’s career again seemed to hit a stall.
An educated man, he is widely respected amongst his peers for calming influence within a team known for its instability. It is this calming influence that led to Misbah receiving the captaincy in all three formats in 2010 and 2011. The results have been positive as Misbah continued to guide the teams towards greater heights. Along with his own performances reaching new levels of consistency, the team also continued to gel and perform well.
One of the defining moments of his career will undoubtedly be the 2012 test series against the then World No.1 side England. Misbah captained Pakistan to an astounding 3-0 whitewash, producing a couple of crucial innings a long the way. He was removed from the T20 captaincy following some poor results, but remained in charge of ODIs and Tests.
Misbah continued with his good form as captain going into the series against in India in 2012/13. He was widely hailed by fans for the historic 2-1 series win over the arch-rivals.
The series against South Africa ended up being a disappointing one for the captain as Pakistan was whitewashed in the Test series and lost the ODI series 3-2. His own performance as a batsman during the One-Day series was assuring.
Misbah continues to lead Pakistan in ODIs and Tests as captain for the forseeable future. He will be captaining Pakistan again at the Champion's trophy in June.
A brief, and disppointing flirtation with the Pakistan team in a number of low level tournaments in 2002 resulting in him being dropped. When another opportunity arose against Australia, he disappointed again in the Test series, failing to live up to his promise and that sealed his fate – it should have been the end of his international career.
But Misbah is a fighter. He returned to domestic cricket, enjoying a prolific 2006-7 and this coincided with Pakistan’s humiliation in the 2007 World Cup, Inzamam’s retirement from cricket and a successful stint in English Club Cricket.
At the age of 33, Misbah was back – he was awarded a PCB Contract, and in another stroke of fortune, he was drafted in to replace Mohammad Yousuf for the 2007 World T20, held in South Africa.
He was one of the sensations of tournament – a super-cool individual, who virtually single-handedly guided Pakistan to the final with some truly amazing innings.
Whilst the final will be remembered for ‘that shot’ at the end of the game, Misbah was 1 shot away from taking Pakistan to World T20 glory.
He appears unfazed and unflappable out in the middle – reminiscent of the man he has replaced in the squad, and this temperament has seen him establish himself as one of Pakistan’s premier batsman.
The renaissance of Misbah-ul-Haq has been extraordinary – He is ‘Mr Dependable!, and is making the best use of his new found opportunity.
After 2 scintillating test centuries against India in 2007, he was rewarded with the Pakistani Vice-Captaincy.
However the year 2009 was a tough one for Misbah and he had a tough time in all versions of the game. In 13 matches, he averaged 33 at a slow strike rate of 65 and in Tests his average was a poor 28. With youngsters such as Fawad Alam and Umar Akmal starting to deliver, Misbah’s career again seemed to hit a stall.
An educated man, he is widely respected amongst his peers for calming influence within a team known for its instability. It is this calming influence that led to Misbah receiving the captaincy in all three formats in 2010 and 2011. The results have been positive as Misbah continued to guide the teams towards greater heights. Along with his own performances reaching new levels of consistency, the team also continued to gel and perform well.
One of the defining moments of his career will undoubtedly be the 2012 test series against the then World No.1 side England. Misbah captained Pakistan to an astounding 3-0 whitewash, producing a couple of crucial innings a long the way. He was removed from the T20 captaincy following some poor results, but remained in charge of ODIs and Tests.
Misbah continued with his good form as captain going into the series against in India in 2012/13. He was widely hailed by fans for the historic 2-1 series win over the arch-rivals.
The series against South Africa ended up being a disappointing one for the captain as Pakistan was whitewashed in the Test series and lost the ODI series 3-2. His own performance as a batsman during the One-Day series was assuring.
Misbah continues to lead Pakistan in ODIs and Tests as captain for the forseeable future. He will be captaining Pakistan again at the Champion's trophy in June.
