Misbah-ul-Haq is playing like he wished he had retired after the England series

[Sherlock]

...Just watching him over the last month or so - Misbah's demeanour got me thinking, Is he playing just because he has to and is being pressured in to?

Or is this the natural cause of his limited batting and technique, and has it finally reached a point of no return?

I simply can not see him playing much longer than this series if truth be told, and if he does than it's really cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

[Markhor]

Let's wait until the end of the series before writing obituaries but I did read that it was a push for Misbah to make the England tour let alone the Australia tour but the PCB wanted him to stick around for these difficult tours rather than throw a new captain in at the deep end.

I understand their argument. Its not just his demeanour, but on-field he's made some strange decisions especially pertaining to Yasir and the way he's been asked to bowl. I really hope he goes out on a high, he deserves to. Melbourne and Sydney are not as pacy as the Brisbane wicket and he won't be batting under lights, so hope he can recover some form.

 

[Sherlock]

Let's wait until the end of the series before writing obituaries but I did read that it was a push for Misbah to make the England tour let alone the Australia tour but the PCB wanted him to stick around for these difficult tours rather than throw a new captain in at the deep end.

I understand their argument. Its not just his demeanour, but on-field he's made some strange decisions especially pertaining to Yasir and the way he's been asked to bowl. I really hope he goes out on a high, he deserves to. Melbourne and Sydney are not as pacy as the Brisbane wicket and he won't be batting under lights, so hope he can recover some form.

Tbf writing his obituaries is the only way it goings atm. Also as you said Misbah hardly wanted the away tours and was going to step down, but was pressured not to do so by the PCB.

The obituary has already been written, it's when it can be read, IMO.

 

[JibranAnsari]

i think for england tour the whole team and the management was very intense but after england toured the team has rathar looked drained and less passionate. Misbah too , it seems , has not been the same after england series

 

[Arham_PakFan]

A bit of both,I guess.

 

[Sherlock]

i think for england tour the whole team and the management was very intense but after england toured the team has rathar looked drained and less passionate. Misbah too , it seems , has not been the same after england series

I think that was because some players/coaching staff may have thought that would be the last time they'd be seeing Misbah and YK. Playing out their skins was a fitting tribute, no?

 

[Syed1]

If we do well in this series SK may ask Misbah to continue. If we get destroyed Misbah may be asked to leave.

Misbah has to man up and leave if he wants to.

 

[Sherlock]

Yeah but, emotional blackmailing is known in the PCB/Pakistan Cricket circles. Don't be surprised if they pressure Misbah in extending his stay.

 

[JibranAnsari]

^ well i will wait for the series to end , he might surprise us.

but the right thing to do is to allow the new guys to settle down against windiesn, srilanka and zbabwe before we start playing big boys again.

 

[StarWolf]

If we do well in this series SK may ask Misbah to continue. If we get destroyed Misbah may be asked to leave.

Misbah has to man up and leave if he wants to.

This. PCB is a pathetic board which always tries to shift blame. They would throw Misbah under the bus if we fail in the aussie tour. PCB itself has not been able to groom a single captain during the last decade. What a shame!

 

[On_the_up]

Get the boys to draw/win the series and then retire.

Perfect ending.

 

[Markhor]

^ well i will wait for the series to end , he might surprise us.

but the right thing to do is to allow the new guys to settle down against windiesn, srilanka and zbabwe before we start playing big boys again.

Yes, 2017 is a perfect year to transition to the youngsters.

We have West Indies (A), Bangladesh (A) and Sri Lanka (H).

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Misbah had a chance to retire on a high.

Maybe he is doing it for the team. Maybe he just thought he could go for it and if Pakistan do well, he would get that extra glory.

Either ways, it looks like he would have been better off retiring after England.

Sometimes, you gotta be shrewd like Shoaib Malik.

 

[StarWolf]

Yes, 2017 is a perfect year to transition to the youngsters.

We have West Indies (A), Bangladesh (A) and Sri Lanka (H).

We don't even know who is our next captain going to be.

 

[shaz619]

Misbah had a chance to retire on a high.

Maybe he is doing it for the team. Maybe he just thought he could go for it and if Pakistan do well, he would get that extra glory.

Either ways, it looks like he would have been better off retiring after England.

Sometimes, you gotta be shrewd like Shoaib Malik.

He had the chance to go out on a high after helping pak get the no.1 ranking, he has wanted to retire after the series vs England in UAE but has been pressured to carry on and I guess he understands that the reasons are justified in that you want a key team member on difficult tours of ENG and AUS plus there was that added incentive of doing well there, Misbah has always been driven by a challenge to but given the mileage on him, his age etc he has become very jaded

 

[itsme]

It's about ability,nothing else

 

[The_KING]

It's about the preparation. For England we were training with the army and arrived in England like a month prior to the tour to acclimatise hence why we played so well in England. Our preparation for both the NZ and Australian tours have been shocking. Whose bright idea was it to have a 3 match test series with the West Indies at the very end of that series? The test series against WI should have been played first.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

We don't even know who is our next captain going to be.

Sarfaraz should be made captain of all formats. Azhar Ali just doesn't inspire the brand of cricket Pakistan is known for, he's a good team player though. Not captain material.

 

[Zaz]

Sarfaraz should be made captain of all formats. Azhar Ali just doesn't inspire the brand of cricket Pakistan is known for, he's a good team player though. Not captain material.

How successful were we when we played an "exciting" brand of cricket say in the 90s?

We underperformed hugely considering the talent we had

As misbah has shown possibly the best way to get the best out of our test teams is to grind it out It may not be exciting or good to watch but the results are better than weve possibly ever had

 

[StarWolf]

Sarfaraz should be made captain of all formats. Azhar Ali just doesn't inspire the brand of cricket Pakistan is known for, he's a good team player though. Not captain material.

I agree with you completely.

 

[Hawkeye]

Lol rubbish.

Will come back. Was our best bat in England, is an inspiration for the team.

Haters come out in numbers whenever there's a failure or two.

Eventually, he'll retire and on his own terms. Soon. He's already a legend for us.

 

[The_Odd_One]

WI series was a curse. Misbah looks tired and lacks intensity which was visible in the English tour. Should have rested in WI series.

 

[Zohaib Shah]

How successful were we when we played an "exciting" brand of cricket say in the 90s?

We underperformed hugely considering the talent we had

As misbah has shown possibly the best way to get the best out of our test teams is to grind it out It may not be exciting or good to watch but the results are better than weve possibly ever had

Don't think this style will work forever. Cricket has changed from just "grinding it out".

 

[yasir_shah_fan]

Lol rubbish.

Will come back. Was our best bat in England, is an inspiration for the team.

Haters come out in numbers whenever there's a failure or two.

Eventually, he'll retire and on his own terms. Soon. He's already a legend for us.

Misbah is a rubbish batsman especially on bouncy tracks. Will be lucky to average 15 by the end of this tour

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Misbah should have retired after england tour and MYK should have been given the honour to lead the test side until he retires after his double ton knock in the last test would have been perfect... Even now after this AUS tour they should give it to MYK to tackle his ego..

 

[Saj]

He'll bounce back.

Never write him off.

 

[moghul]

This is Misbah's own fault and selfishness, should have retired after England tour, not doing any favor to Pak cricket.

Earned a lot of respect but losing fast, almost like YK.

Cricketers much greater than him left much before his age, why not him.

 

[The_KING]

This is Misbah's own fault and selfishness, should have retired after England tour, not doing any favor to Pak cricket.

Earned a lot of respect but losing fast, almost like YK.

Cricketers much greater than him left much before his age, why not him.

Erm he wanted to go after last year's UAE series against England but PCB asked him to stay on for another year till the Australian tour. Lol at you comparing Misbah with Younis. Blame PCB, not Misbah.

 

[Junaids]

I admire Misbah's professionalism, but I have to say that his influence has really condemned this tour to failure.

We can all see his influence in Inzamam's selections. As should always be the case, the skipper got the team he wanted.

But Mickey Arthur knows better how to win in Australian conditions, and this is not the team he would have wanted. Or to be precise, it is mainly the team, but without several key ingredients.

Mickey Arthur wrote in his book that one batsman has to be able to bowl pace and that two of the bowlers have to be able to bat, of which Mohammad Amir is one. I'm pretty sure that he'd have wanted Aamer Yamin to play the 4 Pakistan A Tests this year, and that he'd have wanted Hasan Ali as his third seamer Who Can Bat A Bit in Australia.

And with the option of a fifth bowler, that would have allowed Yasir Shah to be used as an attacking weapon.

 

[o_ahsan99]

Mickey Arthur wrote in his book that one batsman has to be able to bowl pace and that two of the bowlers have to be able to bat, of which Mohammad Amir is one. I'm pretty sure that he'd have wanted Aamer Yamin to play the 4 Pakistan A Tests this year, and that he'd have wanted Hasan Ali as his third seamer Who Can Bat A Bit in Australia.

How good is Hasan Ali's batting. I've read a few places that he can be a bowing allrounder but have never seen him bat. Did he score any runs in the A tour or domestic season?

 

[moghul]

Hasan Ali played only 4 QA trophy games this year for Islamabad. Was he injured or dropped in rest of the games. How come no department picked him, if he was that good ?

 

[Ellipsism]

Hasan Ali played only 4 QA trophy games this year for Islamabad. Was he injured or dropped in rest of the games. How come no department picked him, if he was that good ?

He isn't the best FC bowler going around. He's better off sticking with the LO forms of the game.

 

[Asim2Good]

Pak fans should be easy on our own players, its getting boring
he had to travel back to Pak and then join team once again.
when any other team had to play away from home all the time and keep on performing , then we ll talk.
everyone knew long time ago, that before Aus tour, both Misbah & YK are NOT going anywhere, so stand with them while they are playing their last few matches.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

He had the chance to go out on a high after helping pak get the no.1 ranking, he has wanted to retire after the series vs England in UAE but has been pressured to carry on and I guess he understands that the reasons are justified in that you want a key team member on difficult tours of ENG and AUS plus there was that added incentive of doing well there, Misbah has always been driven by a challenge to but given the mileage on him, his age etc he has become very jaded

Looks like he really didn't have a choice then. Sad situation.

 

[Statsman]

Yea, the long beard with white streaks is crying retirement.

 

[AlphaFighter]

Not really. This is limited Misbah being brutally exposed. Can't play the cut shot, can't play the pull or hook shot, can't drive the ball properly if his life depended on it, is prepared to block 60 deliveries out of 60 if the bowler just bowls straight to him and will expect the bowler to give him something on a platter. A bowler's dream to bowl too. His harmless plods outside offstump is not going to give anyone sleepless nights.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Misbah is one of the strongest batsmen we have. His fitness in at its zenith. His captaincy is brilliant and it's shows from the way the tail batted these last two days.. Were it any other captain, I doubt they would have put up 15 runs with their limited ability.

Also, the England series that we drew which we are very proud of is primarily there because of Misbah and not because of his amazing man managing and captaincy but because of his 100 in the first innings.

He is only a match away from coming good. Even the bests go through a patch of bad form. And yet hes been pretty good, the first innings in New Zealand was a prime example of how strong a player he is mentally.

Yeah, I want him to go out on high too after this series but mind you, we don't need flashy players in this team with the way we have our collapses. We need blokes like Misbah who can take the pressure and dig down in the pitch and stand.

 

[Junaids]

Misbah is one of the strongest batsmen we have. His fitness in at its zenith. His captaincy is brilliant and it's shows from the way the tail batted these last two days.. Were it any other captain, I doubt they would have put up 15 runs with their limited ability.

Also, the England series that we drew which we are very proud of is primarily there because of Misbah and not because of his amazing man managing and captaincy but because of his 100 in the first innings.

He is only a match away from coming good. Even the bests go through a patch of bad form. And yet hes been pretty good, the first innings in New Zealand was a prime example of how strong a player he is mentally.

Yeah, I want him to go out on high too after this series but mind you, we don't need flashy players in this team with the way we have our collapses. We need blokes like Misbah who can take the pressure and dig down in the pitch and stand.

He is very fit, but as [MENTION=5942]AlphaFighter[/MENTION] wrote, we are watching a batsman who was always technically limited - he couldn't get into the team when he was aged 25-36 - and who is a very defensive captain.

I have no doubt that the crack at the target came from Mickey Arthur and Steve Rixon and Wasim Bari. Misbah would have wanted to do an AB De Villiers/FAF du Plessis 0.5 runs per over vigil in the hope of rain.

The very fact of having a go suggests that Mickey Arthur is slowly taking over control in this team.

Misbah would have had you 30-2 in 30 overs at the end of Day 3 and 180-7 in 120 overs at the end of Day 4.

 

[AlphaFighter]

He is very fit, but as [MENTION=5942]AlphaFighter[/MENTION] wrote, we are watching a batsman who was always technically limited - he couldn't get into the team when he was aged 25-36 - and who is a very defensive captain.

I have no doubt that the crack at the target came from Mickey Arthur and Steve Rixon and Wasim Bari. Misbah would have wanted to do an AB De Villiers/FAF du Plessis 0.5 runs per over vigil in the hope of rain.

The very fact of having a go suggests that Mickey Arthur is slowly taking over control in this team.

Misbah would have had you 30-2 in 30 overs at the end of Day 3 and 180-7 in 120 overs at the end of Day 4.

That is Misbah ul Haq in a nutshell, a M

 

[jeetu]

Its silly to count out Misbah. He will come good soon enough.

 

[AlphaFighter]

Its silly to count out Misbah. He will come good soon enough.

Its silly to have any faith with Misbah ul Haq with the bat

 

[cricket.mad]

The most limited batsman I have ever seen to have succeeded to an extent in international cricket. .pretty average as a batsman. .but his contribution to pak cricket team is something else. ..

 

[sjahmed23]

The bear will wake up and claw down some aussies. I am looking forward to it.