Misbah-ul-Haq – A Revolutionary Saviour

“I don’t believe in aging. I believe in forever altering one’s aspect to the sun.” Misbah-ul-Haq is the epitome of this quote. He made his final comeback at the age of 36 in 2010 as a captain and took the cricketing world by storm. Now he leaves a legacy as not only a leader par excellence but also as a gentleman, a savior, a guardian and a role model who revived cricket in his country. On the occasion of his farewell, we dedicate this piece to Pakistan’s gentle giant, Misbah-ul-Haq.

Early life – an Obedient Son and an Academician (1974-1994)

Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi was born in Mianwali, a town in the Punjab province of Pakistan, where there were no basic facilities for cricket. His father, a former field hockey player, was a school principal and his mother who had been an athlete in her college days, was also a principal in a primary school – a combination that made Misbah the cricketer he is today. As he was a child of academicians, there was a perfect environment for scholastic pursuits at home.

Though Misbah’s mother always encouraged him to play, his father insisted that he focused on his studies. Failure to secure high profile jobs due to his own hockey career made him bitter towards sports. As a result, Misbah’s focus was on education as his father wanted for him and his sisters to give priority to studies over sports.

This was the prime reason behind his starting his cricketing journey very late. In 1988 after Misbah’s father passed away, the responsibility of fending for the family fell on his mother’s shoulder and this, in turn, instilled the fighter spirit in him. It made Misbah a tough man which helped him later in his career as a player and a captain. In 1992 Misbah completed his FSC (10+2) and it was around the same time when Pakistan won the World Cup in Australia.

The historic win inspired thousands of youngsters to take up the game and Misbah was one of them. However his priority was still his education and he went to complete Bachelor in Sciences (B.Sc.), majoring in mathematics and physics from Faisalabad. It was here that in 1994 that Misbah went to watch a game for the first time.

He had gone to watch the Wills Tri Series with his college friends and he was horrified to see the rowdy behavior of the crowd who threw stones and bottles at the players. He said that he felt that they have come not to watch the match but to petrify the players. He was beyond mortified and this is the reason why Misbah values education so much as he believes that education makes people civil and respectful. In 1997 he completed his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Management and Technology, Lahore and became of the most educated cricketers in a country where cricket and education are considered to be worlds apart.

Entry in Cricket and First class Cricket (1995-2001)

In early stages, Misbah played cricket only for fun, he played (from 1988-92) tape ball cricket, traveling to cities like Layah and Bhakkar and returning to Mianwali in the early morning.  However, his prime focus was to study as his mother implored him to do whatever he wanted with his life but he must complete his post-graduation at the very least.

However, the 1992 World Cup win changed his life. He started playing hard-ball cricket. The owner of Mianwali Gymkhana knew him and as he needed players for his team, so he gave Misbah an opportunity to play. When he went to Faisalabad for B.Sc., he got the chance to see International cricket and to meet the stars he would generally see on TV.

In 1995, he played his first grade two match, taking his cricketing career a step further. When commenced his MBA programme, cricket took a backseat and there came a point when it seemed as though he would give it up completely. It was his cousin Tahir who sent a kit to him all the way to Lahore and persuaded him to continue playing cricket. Misbah continued cricket only on Tahir’s insistence and his aim was to secure the future of his family.

He was under tremendous pressure to get a job at the earliest. So when he got a job offer from a textile mill, everyone in his family thought he would take up the offer. However, Misbah took a risk and he delayed his joining as cricket season was about to commence. When he managed to make a couple of centuries in grade two cricket, he decided to give cricket a go. Misbah did not take up the textile mill job and instead kept churning runs in grade two.

After having rejected the security of a stable job in March 1997, Misbah had to slog hard for the next two years before he played a first-class game. Had anyone else been in similar financial hardship as Misbah, they would have given up, but Misbah had now discovered the purpose of his life. On the February 10^th 1999, Misbah made his debut for Sargodha against Karachi Whites. His journey to play for Pakistan had now commenced.

International Cricket, Failure and Exile (2001-2004)                    

In the 2000-01 season, Misbah was a top scorer on the Quaid-e-Azam run charts (first-class cricket), scoring 947 runs at an average of 63. He was selected for the New Zealand tour in 2001 where he played his first test scoring 28 and 10. He was later dropped from the team but was selected for limited over fixtures later in the year.

During his first three years, Misbah failed to make any impression on the selectors and the fans. He failed against Australia in 2002 and was highly inconsistent in limited overs. In his short stint thus far, he was dropped thrice (twice from the test team and once from one-day). In 2004, after failure against Zimbabwe in Tri Series, he was discarded by the selectors as someone who was a mere domestic wonder.

Back to domestic Cricket, Return and Dropped again (2004-2010)

In 2007 Misbah started contemplating retirement as he was not getting younger and it seemed as though he would end up playing only 4 tests for Pakistan. Just when he was about to quit, he got selected for the first ever T-20 World Cup in South Africa. This was the breakthrough that Misbah needed. In the final against India, he almost singlehandedly took Pakistan from 70 odd for 5 to 152-9 before he played one of the most discussed shots of the generation, the paddle scoop. Though Pakistan lost, Misbah won the hearts of millions of cricket lovers.

Three months later, he scored back to back centuries against India in India. He made 464 runs with an average of over 115 in the series. He also had a decent outing in 2008 in limited overs and an above average tour of Sri Lanka but like every Pakistani cricketer, he found it difficult to score runs in Australia and New Zealand. He had a horrible tour in Tests where he could manage only 137 runs at an average of 19.57 and was dropped for ODIs.

He was later dropped again and this had become a norm by now. When he was not picked for the England tour in 2010, he started planning for a career after cricket. He had previously contemplated the same in 1988 when his father passed away; then in 1997 when he got the textile mill job offer; again in 2002, in 2006 and now in 2010.

Return as a Captain, Makeover of team (2010-2017)

After Pakistan stumbled from one disgrace to another and ultimately ending at its lowest ebb in their cricketing history after the spot-fixing scandal, Misbah was appointed as a captain by the Board. It was a decision that raised quite a few eyebrows and even Mohsin Khan who was the Chief Selector clearly said that the decision was not made by selectors but it was Ijaj Butt’s arbitrary call to appoint the 36-year-old as the Captain. A majority of the Pakistanis vowed never to watch cricket again. For Misbah, it was a new beginning with the added responsibility of captaincy. He emphasized on the power of Youth and first-class performances.

His first series against South Africa was a draw and two months later, he won his first series in New Zealand. Pakistan reached to the Quarter Finals of the 2011 World Cup but Misbah was criticized vehemently for his slow approach in Semi Finals against India. However, it was due to the fact that he was under enormous pressure as when he came on the pitch, the score was 103-3 which quickly became 106-4 as Younis departed. He was the sole hope for Pakistan to make it to the Finals.

The big moment came in 2012 when Pakistan whitewashed the then no.1 English team in UAE. Misbah scored 180 runs at 36 but more importantly smartly used Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman who wrecked the English team which consisted of players like Kevin Pietersen, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Alistair Cook, Matt Prior and Graeme Swann. At the end of the year, Misbah won the One Day series in India, a feat only a few Pakistani captains have achieved.

In 2013, Pakistan lost the test series in South Africa but a year later, Misbah chased down a tricky 300 set by Sri Lanka in 57 overs. His biggest achievement which Misbah himself is proud of was the victory over Australia in UAE in 2014 by 2-0. It was for the first time in 20 years that Pakistan defeated Australia in a Test series. After a failed campaign for the World Cup in 2015, Misbah retired from One Day Internationals.

In 2016, he made a fantastic century and drew the series in England, leading his team to No.1 – a team which languished at the bottom of the ladder when he took over. With his hard work and determination, he crafted a disciplined team of relentless warriors. However, since November 2016, Pakistan has won only 1 and lost 7 tests out of those 6 have come under Misbah. This has somewhat tarnished his record but not his credentials.

Legacy

Misbah once said he will always be remembered even after his retirement for his statistics which he called his legacy. However, it is evident that statistics aren’t the only legacy he will leave behind. If one is to understand his contribution, it can be perceived by how at the fag end of his career, he is now compared to none other than Pakistan’s greatest captain Imran Khan. Some say that he is even better than Khan. However, that’s one argument which is moot.

Misbah had to lead a team whose image was shattered by spot-fixing. The team was famous for its rebellious players and its previous captains had been power hungry. It was a team which was marred with indiscipline and a team whose three major players were banned while three others were dropped, never to play again. The herculean task assigned to Misbah was not only to improve their performance on the field but also to recover the image of the team off the field.

Slowly yet steadily, he started to build a team in his own way, much different from his predecessors. He believed in the safety first approach unlike Imran or Wasim and he wanted the tried and tested players at the helm, unlike the earlier captains who tried raw talents. He instilled a sense of restraint and control in the team which was refreshing.

For the first time in decades, a Pakistani outfit seemed so composed and like one unit. In fact, the team managed to overcome the scandals and improved its image considerably under Misbah’s captaincy. It was a reward for Misbah’s effort when ICC gave him the Spirit of Cricket award late last year for his countless contributions. The image of Pakistani cricket underwent a complete overhaul under Misbah. The team whose image got eroded due to one scandal after the other only survived till 2003 due to the talent they had but after 2004, Pakistani cricketers became the most unpopular cricketers in world cricket.

The ball-tampering incident of 2006 in England, 2010spot-fixingg, 2010 Sydney allegations of fixing, 2009 Champions trophy fixing allegations and a number of other scandals of individual players like Asif and Shoaib Akhtar earned them the most malicious reputation. Therefore, when Pakistan is appreciated for playing top class and more importantly fair cricket, it is all Misbah’s doing.

Apart from the success on the field and making the team a disciplined unit, Misbah made the players play for the team and Pakistan was no more a team of individual stars but a unit of triers. They played for each other and the scandals were replaced with hard work, rebellions were overtaken by unity, and individual geniuses was taken over by a group. Chaos was swapped for calm and serenity, altercations were substituted with smiles. This led to defeats being taken over by wins. Misbah truly led the team to the shore amidst thunderous storms.

When many years down the line, generations will look back to Misbah’s legacy, his vigor will be apparent to them. They will marvel at how he carved a world class team from the ashes by essaying the roles of both the revolutionary and the savior. It is interesting to note how he never aspired to be a cricketer. One must thank Tahir, his cousin who saw potential in him even before he himself did and helped him achieve the true purpose of his life.

About Misbah

• Misbah has captained in the highest number of Tests for Pakistan – 55, Dominica test will be his 56th.
• He has the highest wins for Pakistan – 25 wins, though most losses as well – 19.
• He is the one of the one longest serving captain of Pakistan alongside Imran Khan and Javed Miandad.
• He is oldest in the history of Test cricket to score 5,000 test runs.
• Misbah has played 74 tests and 162 One Day Internationals scoring 5161 and 5122 runs respectively.
• He has scored the most number of 99 runs in the history of the game – three times.
• Joint second fastest century in test cricket (56 balls) vs Australia in 2014-15.
• He hails from same town as Imran Khan and they are even from the same sect, both are Niazis.
• He has scored the second highest runs after turning 35. He has 4,448 Runs in 62 tests at 47 compared to Graham Gooch who played 52 tests and scored 4563 runs at 48.54, a record which has been standing since 1995.
• Misbah and Younis started playing first class in February 1999; they were dropped after Australia tour in 2010 and returned together in Oct 2010 after the spot-fixing scandal and on 14^th May, will retire together.

– Written by Abhishek Srivastava.