Misbah silences artillery barrage again

Pakistan’s ageing captain Misbah-ul-Haq heaved spinner Robin Petersen straight over sight screen for the winning six as Pakistan trounced world’s number one Test team South Africa by seven wickets in Abu Dhabi Test match. It was Pakistan’s only fourth win against South Africa in 22 Test matches. It was also Pakistan’s fourth consecutive Test match win in United Arab Emirates. 

South Africa suffered first defeat in 16 Test matches since loss against Sri Lanka at Durban in 2011 – longest undefeated run in its history. On paper, it was a contest between world’s number one ranked team versus sixth.

No other player in Pakistan’s history had to lull opponents’ criticism within his own country than Misbah-ul-Haq. He had done it many times before, hushing them by his sheer performance. Once again in his career, Misbah-ul-Haq has silenced a barrage of artillery. 

It was Misbah-ul-Haq’s 11^th win in 23^rd Test match as captain of Pakistan cricket team. His 11 wins as captain have placed him at par with Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 11 wins in 31 Tests. Only Imran Khan (14 wins in 48 Test matches), Javed Miandad (14 in 34) and Wasim Wasim Akram (12 wins in 25 Test matches) have won more Test matches for Pakistan. Misbah-ul-Haq has never captained Pakistan on his home soil and all his wins have come outside Pakistan.

Misbah-ul-Haq became the first Pakistani captain to score a century against South Africa in 22 Test matches between two countries. Two previous captains had scored in 90s but none was able to score a century – 99 by Salim Malik at Johannesburg in 1995 and unbeaten 92 by Inzamam-ul-Haq at Port Elizabeth in 2007.

In Abu Dhabi Test, Misbah-ul-Haq became one of the oldest batsmen to score a Test hundred. He was 39 years 141 days old when he slammed his hundred in the first innings. The last batsman to score hundred, older than this age was England’s Graham Gooch nearly 20 years ago who was 40 years and 314 days old when he scored 210 against New Zealand at Nottingham in 1994. The oldest batsman to score a century in the all-time history of Test cricket was England’s Sir Jack Hobbs who scored 142 against Australia at Melbourne in 1929 at the age of 46 years and 82 days. A total of 17 centuries have been scored in Test cricket by a batsman older than Misbah-ul-Haq. 

Misbah-ul-Haq has always been victim of injustice due to politics in Pakistani cricket. He could not make Test debut until he was nearly 27 years old. After his debut Test at against New Zealand at Auckland in March 2001, he was dropped for nearly 18 months. He could play only four more Test matches in a brief comeback and then was dropped again for more than four years. 

Inzamam-ul-Haq who captained Pakistan in 31 Test matches between 2003 and 2007, always considered Misbah-ul-Haq as a potential threat. Misbah-ul-Haq was never included in Pakistani team and only got a comeback chance after retirement of Inzamam-ul-Haq in October 2007. His successor captains also ignored Misbah-ul-Haq on regular basis despite of good performances whenever he had a chance to play for Pakistan. 

Misbah-ul-Haq could become a regular member of Pakistani team when he became captain himself in 2010 at the of 36 years. Pakistan has played 103 Test matches since Misbah-ul-Haq made his Test debut in 2001, but has played only 42 matches and was sidelined in rest of 61 Test matches. Similarly in One Day Internationals, Misbah-ul-Haq has played in only 128 matches out of 288 played by Pakistan since then. Had he been a regular part of the team, Misbah-ul-Haq would have been in Pakistan’s five all-time greatest batsmen. 

Apart from former Pakistan captains who thwarted his career for their own vested interests, an artillery barrage spared no opportunity to blast Misbah-ul-Haq throughout his career. Their guns never stopped firing whenever Misbah-ul-Haq failed in a match as a batsman or captain. It is only his resilience and tenacity that Misbah-ul-Haq is still the captain of Pakistani team. His exemplary performance as batsman and captain against South Africa in the Abu Dhabi Test match has silenced artillery barrage once again like several times in the past.