Misbah-ul-Haq

Misbah-ul-Haq Biography

Few timelines have been as odd as that of Misbah-ul-Haq’s career. To begin with, he made his First-Class debut at 24. The Test cap came at 27. He became captain at 36. He played his last Test at 43. For most countries that is too high a number; for Pakistan it is almost unthinkable. But then, he had a BSc and an MBA to pursue.

There has rarely been anything conventional about Misbah. For years he has been criticised, even ridiculed (they nicknamed him tuk-tuk — ‘block-block’), for his defensive approach at the crease. And then, against Australia at Abu Dhabi in 2014-15, without any warning, he suddenly equalled the record for the fastest Test hundred (in 56 balls). He reached 50 in 21 balls en route, the fastest Test fifty. He scored 101 and 101* in the Test, thus becoming only the second cricketer to score identical hundreds in the same match.

A year-and-a-half later Misbah walked out to bat at Lord’s for the first time. He was over 42. He responded by becoming the oldest captain to score a Test hundred (that too in orange boots). Once he reached the landmark he was all fours, celebrating the feat with push-ups, paying homage to the pre-tour boot-camp at Abbotabad.

Misbah led Pakistan to a 2-2 draw that series. The result was enough to help Pakistan through to the top spot in ICC rankings. Misbah become the first Pakistan captain to hold the much-coveted mace.

Misbah has 5,122 ODI runs at an average of 43.40. He scored 42 fifties. All three are world records for anyone without a hundred. He is also the only cricketer to score three Test 99s.

There is more. Misbah led Pakistan to 26 Test wins. No one else has managed even 15. All 26 wins have come outside Pakistan, since he never led at home. No other captain — across nations — has won that many away from home. He was also the first Pakistan captain to win a Test series in West Indies. He also won series in New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

He achieved this despite not having a formidable bowling attack (Saeed Ajmal, his first star bowler, got reported for chucking) and a consistent pair of openers.

One must remember that Misbah took over the mantle almost immediately the retirement of Shahid Afridi and the ban on Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer. He soon lost Shoaib Akhtar as well.

He led in an era when Pakistan was almost without a single senior man, and was recovering from the gloom of spot-fixing. And he emerged in flying colours, leading as well as sharing the burden of the middle-order with Younis Khan.

His batting average of 46.62 was decent but not outstanding. However, if one throws age into the mix, Misbah scored 2,004 runs — nearly 40% of his Test aggregate — after turning forty: barring Jack Hobbs, no other quadragenarian had scored as many runs.

He scored 8 hundreds a captain, the most for a Pakistani; and no other countryman came within the proverbial mile of his 4,214 Test runs as captain.

He also led Pakistan to ODI series wins in India, West Indies, Sri Lanka, and South Africa as well as the 2012 Asia Cup.

While his T20I career is remembered mostly for his brain-freezes in the two matches against India in the 2007 World T20, he did have a decent T20 career. He led Islamabad United to victory in the first edition of PSL. He also played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL, St Lucia Zouks and Barbados Tridents in CPL, Kandurata Warriors in SLPL, and Rangpur Riders in BBL.

And yet, despite all his success, rarely has a cricketer been criticised so strongly by former stars, from Mohammad Yousuf to Shoaib Akhtar. Even the Taliban issued a statement, calling him “a pathetic player”.

Not that it mattered, for Misbah had taken Pakistan to heights they had not scaled since the late 1980s.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Misbah-ul-Haq Batting & Fielding Averages

Career

Avg

100s

50s

Test

ODIs

T20s

World Cup

Misbah-ul-Haq Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
ODIs	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
T20s	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--		--

News ON Misbah-ul-Haq

PSL 2018: Misbah-ul-Haq ruled out of final

The final of the tournament will be played on March 25 in Karachi.

Watch: Shahid Afridi does not celebrate Misbah-ul-Haq’s wicket as mark of respect during PSL 2018

In the Match 30 of on going Pakistan Super League 2018 Karachi Kings decided to bowl first against Islamabad United.

PSL 2018, Islamabad United vs Karachi Kings, Match 15, Live Streaming, Live Coverage on TV: When and Where to Watch

The live coverage of the 15th match of the tournament will be shown on Discovery’s sports channel

Misbah-ul-Haq: Need to be patient captaining Asian sides

Misbah-ul-Haq also opened up on his most-talked about scoop shot that helped India win the maiden World T20I title in 2007.

Shahid Afridi, Misbah-Ul-Haq and Eoin Morgan excited at the idea of T-10 league

The ten-over-a-side matches will spread over 90 minutes (45 minute each side) in Sharjah, the details of which were announced on Tuesday.

Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam can void left by Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, believes Mickey Arthur

This will be their first series without Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan for years.

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