Happy Birthday Mr. Sensible – Misbah-Ul-Haq

Happy Birthday Mr. Sensible – Misbah-Ul-Haq: “His mind works like a computer” said Ravi Shastri on Misbah-Ul-Haq while commentating in an Indo-Pak T20 match during the 2007 T20 world cup.

Born in Mianwali district in Punjab province, the right handed Pakistani middle order batsman made his debut way back in 2001. Misbah played his first innings against New Zealand away from home at Auckland and scored 28 odd runs batting at no. 3 in the first innings of the test match. In 2002, Misbah made his ODI debut against New Zealand as well at home in Pakistan and scored 28 runs. He played the role of a middle order batsman and right from his early days in the career, he showed signs of good temperament and sound technique.

He scored plenty of runs in the domestic arena in 2002 and thus grabbed the attention of the selectors. He scored his first half century against Kenya and remained unbeaten in the match taking his team home while chasing a small total. However he was sidelined from the international arena due to his inconsistent form and weak strike rate.

Misbah Ul Haq was recalled to play for Pakistan cricket once again in 2007. Surprisingly at the age of 33, he made his T20 debut during the ICC World T20 cup. He proved that age was just a number as he played some amazing shots during the world cup and was arguably the best batsman for Pakistan. He scored a 50 in a tied match before getting run out for the quest of changing the history and handing Pakistan a first world cup win against India. In the finals of the world cup, Misbah played an attacking innings against India nearly winning the cup for Pakistan. He faltered again playing a scoop shot over the short fine leg off the bowling of India’s Joginder Sharma, the shot that was more cherished by the Indian fans. Following the world cup, Misbah continued his purple patch scoring plenty of runs. He scored his first test century against India in Kolkata during the 2007 series scoring unbeaten 161 which saved Pakistan from follow-on. In the very next match of the series, he scored a fluent 133 and again remained unbeaten.

The version 2.0 of Misbah made a strong point to his critics and proved that he still had a lot of cricket left in him and could adjust to any format of the game. His batting style displayed the right temperament blended with enormous calmness and patience.

Cementing his position as a strong middle order batsman for Pakistan in all the formats, PCB made him the Vice-captain of the team. And he played a vital role of rescuing Pakistan several times with few laborious and few blistering innings as per the demand of the game. However his form slumped and was later dumped in 2010 from all the formats. He didn’t feature in Pakistan’s disastrous tour to England in 2010 but was later made the captain of the Test side against South Africa in late 2010.

Rewarded with the role of captaincy, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands winning the test matches for Pakistan. In 2012, Misbah led Pakistan whitewashed the then no.1 ranked England with 3-0. He is one of the most successful Test Captain’s for Pakistan. He led Pakistan in 36 test matches winning 16 and while 10 off them ended with a draw. In ODIs as well, Misbah had captained in 87 matches winning 45 and losing 39.

However in the latter years of his career, his batting in ODIs always had been under serious scrutiny due to his snail-paced approach. Few supporters always believed that the lack of batting form of his teammates always aggravated the pressure on him as skipper which affected his fluency and had to be cautious with his shots.

Misbah retired from ODIs after Pakistan bowed out of the ICC World Cup 2015 losing to Australia in the quarter final encounter. He has amassed 6945 runs at an average of 43.40 in ODIs. His ODI career registered 42 half-centuries but never found himself fortunate to score a century in ODIs.

However, contrary to his own batting technique, Misbah holds an interesting record for the fastest hundred in Test cricket. He scored that ton in mere 56 balls against the Aussies at Abu Dhabi equaling the feat achieved by one of the all time great batsmen, Sir Viv Richards.

Mr. Sensible as we rightly believe turns 41 today and is still going strong with his bat. He continues his legacy captaining and scoring in the test matches. Cricket Tracker wishes him a very happy birthday and the luck to go further.