Words of praise flowed for skipper Misbah-ul-Haq after he led the team to a crushing win over Australia in the second match in Abu Dhabi today to give Pakistan their first Test series win over the Aussies in 20 years.
The victory that included a record equalling fastest Test century by Misbah is certainly coup de grace to his detractors and critics who until few weeks ago were calling for his head and the name of Shahid Afridi was widely being pushed to replace him as the ODI captain for the World Cup, to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand next year.
“Now everyone can be as diplomatic as they want but the truth is if Afridi had led Pakistan to victory in that match (third ODI against Australia, where Misbah sat out), it would have been curtains for Misbah,” former Pakistan Test leg spinner Abdul Qadir told PTI .
“The truth is there were efforts to oust Misbah as ODI captain and from the ODI squad before the World Cup but I salute the man’s temperament that he withstood all this pressure to today write his name in cricket’s history books,” Qadir added.
He said it was no secret that before the series against Australia the team management and Misbah were not on the same page.
“Who are they trying to fool they even didn’t want Younis in the ODI squad but as fate would have it now both the seniors can’t be ignored for the World Cup,” Qadir said.
Pakistan’s former Test captain Rashid Latif said Younis and Misbah had shown rare nerves to come out as champions in the Australia series.
“Keeping in mind their services to Pakistan cricket, everyone should have supported them but they were put under pressure while they were going through a bad patch,” said Latif. “But the way they came out as winners in this series it just shows they have a strong temperament and character.”
The two-match Test series turned out to be a personal triumph for Misbah and Younis.
While Younis rewrote the record books with three back-to-back tons including a double hundred in the second Test, Misbah regained form with a 69 in the first innings of the first Test and followed it up with back-to-back tons. His 56-ball hundred on Sunday left his critics and detractors dumbfounded, who never believed the soft spoken Pakistani captain could bat with such savageness.
“I am really happy for Misbah because I don’t think any captain in our history has been so misunderstood or vilified as him,” former Test opener Mohsin Khan said.
Mohsin, who worked with Misbah as interim coach for eight-month period in 2011-12 when Pakistan whitewashed England 3-0 in a Test series, said Pakistan cricket owed a lot to Misbah.
“I think he has been misunderstood all the time. He is one of the most sensible and mature captains I have seen and people needed to understand he batted the way he did because of the team requirements. Against Australia he showed that if the other players are doing well he also likes to play aggressively,” Mohsin said.
Mohsin, a former chief selector, said it would have been a grave injustice if Misbah had been removed as ODI captain.
“I have worked with him and I know he is a very calm and composed person who brought a lot of stability to the Pakistan team dressing room after the spot fixing scandal. We had a very good working relationship,” he said.
Former Test batsman, Basit Ali said senior players like Younis and Misbah needed to be given more respect as they were the key to Pakistan doing well in the World Cup.
“It is good to give more exposure to younger and new players but it must be done stage wise not in a hurry,” he added.
Today Misbah, at 40, is the toast of Pakistan but such are the vagaries of Pakistan cricket that few weeks back he was talking about quitting captaincy if he didn’t find form.
“I think Misbah still has some more surprises in store for us,” said Mohsin.
