CricFan2012
First Class Star
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2012
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Misbah is often praised for having an average of 40 among batsmen like Younis, Afridi, Shehzad, Akmals, who averaged mere 30s.
He was often the lone man standing running out of partners at the other end, reaching totals of 200-250, rarely over that because Misbah was a slow batter.
Dhoni, on the other hand, is in a team with the some of the worlds best batsmen, yet he seems out of place, he is not like he once was, which can be seen by his slow batting.
Did these two players retire too late?
Misbah retired at around 41 at the end of the CWC 2015, while it looks like Dhoni will retire at the end of CWC 2019 at the age of 38.
Your reflexes take a hit at this age, and your body is not the same as it once was. It's a little difficult to say whether age affected Misbah's slow batting, or it was to prevent a loss of wickets by playing dots on good balls, but on many occasions Misbah's lack of early acceleration cost the team, the 2011 SF against India being one. His lack of big hitting throughout his innings is a reason he has never scored a century as well.
Dhoni still averages decently in his later years like Misbah did, but with a low strike rate, and his slow batting in the initial phase of his innings has costed India games, not as many as Misbah because India has a world class unit at this stage compared to Pakistan's in 2011-2015.
What makes matters worse for Dhoni is that Pant is a perfectly capable batsman and keeper who can take his place, yet he does not retire because of ego or delusion. Misbah probably thought there was no capable leader or that no batsman was stepping up, therefore delaying his retirement, or was he deluded as well and happy with scoring 40-50s from 70-80 balls and holding the place of Harris or other good batsmen?
So then the question arises, should cricketers retire earlier, or live long enough to become the villain?
He was often the lone man standing running out of partners at the other end, reaching totals of 200-250, rarely over that because Misbah was a slow batter.
Dhoni, on the other hand, is in a team with the some of the worlds best batsmen, yet he seems out of place, he is not like he once was, which can be seen by his slow batting.
Did these two players retire too late?
Misbah retired at around 41 at the end of the CWC 2015, while it looks like Dhoni will retire at the end of CWC 2019 at the age of 38.
Your reflexes take a hit at this age, and your body is not the same as it once was. It's a little difficult to say whether age affected Misbah's slow batting, or it was to prevent a loss of wickets by playing dots on good balls, but on many occasions Misbah's lack of early acceleration cost the team, the 2011 SF against India being one. His lack of big hitting throughout his innings is a reason he has never scored a century as well.
Dhoni still averages decently in his later years like Misbah did, but with a low strike rate, and his slow batting in the initial phase of his innings has costed India games, not as many as Misbah because India has a world class unit at this stage compared to Pakistan's in 2011-2015.
What makes matters worse for Dhoni is that Pant is a perfectly capable batsman and keeper who can take his place, yet he does not retire because of ego or delusion. Misbah probably thought there was no capable leader or that no batsman was stepping up, therefore delaying his retirement, or was he deluded as well and happy with scoring 40-50s from 70-80 balls and holding the place of Harris or other good batsmen?
So then the question arises, should cricketers retire earlier, or live long enough to become the villain?