Misbah-ul-Haq puts silencer in critics
He was not a good finisher in eyes of critics, he was sluggish at times and faced abuses from critics, some even labeled him selfish and others crossed the limits by declaring him conspirator to snatch captaincy from Shahid Afridi. Even when he performed he was considered a batsman, who plays for himself, lets the whole team down and walks out clean. The bashes were always there in hide-and-seek career of Misbah-ul-Haq, but today this man has silenced all the critics in style. Critics raised concerns, today, when he was batting at 53 of 65 balls but next 40 runs of 25 balls lulled and stunned everyone.
Misbah did a match-winner today at Mclean Park, Napier. He proved the world that limited overs cricket isn't all about hitting and entertaining crowd, once again he started dull and soggy, took all the time the world, stick himself to conditions and then launched the most devastating innings played at Mclean Park. He proved himself an anchor of storm-hit yacht, proved his worth and selection in team, at 37 he did what a rookie wants to do to make an impact. There is some energetic lad - who is always eager to perform - disguised as Misbah.
Misbah's drab starts are always criticized, had he listened to his critics Pakistan would have had another collapse today. Misbah once again kept his cool with Younis Khan to set the platform for Shahid Afridi and Abdur Razzak, but when Afridi got out Misbah turned his cool into heat and did what Afridi had to do. He finished the game in style, he could go for his first ODI century but victory was more important for him which also gave him his career-best 93*.
The stats are yours!
Who would have ever thought that Misbah will make another comeback at nearly 37? But this comeback has come with outstanding numbers. "If you want me to get out, let me score fifty first" this is Misbah's tweet to all the oppositions.
This man, since appointed captain in Test Cricket, has scored 8 international 50s in 10 innings. 6 of them were consecutive in Tests while other 2 came in ODIs. Misbah's international batting average is whooping 104.8 with score of 629(including Tests and ODIs).
Most of his knocks, since appointed captain of Tests, were either match-saving or match-winning. After the gap of 18 matches, Misbah has once again gone past average of 40 in his ODI career, last time when he achieved it was his 44th match in January 2009.
With world cup coming up, its good news for Pakistan fans that experienced players have started to gain form. Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzak, Mohammad Hafeez and now Misbah-ul-Haq; all have managed to play at least one good knock on eve of World Cup.
Written by Mazher Arshad on 01/02/2011
