PCB’s decision to remove Misbah-ul-Haq triggered Pakistan’s decline in Test Cricket

[RyanRyan10]

I am specifically talking only about Test cricket here because I also have reservations about Misbah’s approach in white-ball formats. But in Tests, the numbers and results clearly show that Pakistan performed much better under him, both as captain and coach.

As captain, Misbah won 26 and lost 19 out of 56 Tests, giving him an impressive win-loss ratio of 1.36. Under him, Pakistan never lost a home series. They won away series in Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand and also drew 2-2 against a very strong England side in 2016. Pakistan even managed to win a Test Mace.

Between 1995 and 2010, Pakistan had lost 10 series in home conditions. But under Misbah’s captaincy, they remained unbeaten at home.

Then after Misbah retired, Pakistan’s performances declined again. Between 2017 and 2019 under Sarfaraz, Pakistan had just 4 wins and 8 losses in Tests, a poor win-loss ratio of 0.5. Pakistan lost to SL & NZ in UAE.

When Misbah returned as coach, the numbers improved once more. Pakistan had 7 wins and 6 losses in Tests under him as coach, improving the win-loss ratio to 1.17. Pakistan also won four home Tests and did not lose any during that period.

But after Misbah’s departure, Pakistan’s Test record has again declined sharply. Since then, Pakistan have managed only 9 wins against 17 losses, a win-loss ratio of just 0.53. More worrying is that Pakistan are now struggling even against weaker teams.

So when you look at the overall pattern, one thing becomes very clear: Pakistan consistently performed better in Test cricket under Misbah than under most other captains or coaches.

This proves that Misbah understood what Pakistan needed to become a competitive Test side.


So the question is: should PCB seriously consider bringing Misbah back specifically as a Test coach?

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

I am specifically talking only about Test cricket here because I also have reservations about Misbah’s approach in white-ball formats. But in Tests, the numbers and results clearly show that Pakistan performed much better under him, both as captain and coach.

As captain, Misbah won 26 and lost 19 out of 56 Tests, giving him an impressive win-loss ratio of 1.36. Under him, Pakistan never lost a home series. They won away series in Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand and also drew 2-2 against a very strong England side in 2016. Pakistan even managed to win a Test Mace.

Between 1995 and 2010, Pakistan had lost 10 series in home conditions. But under Misbah’s captaincy, they remained unbeaten at home.

Then after Misbah retired, Pakistan’s performances declined again. Between 2017 and 2019 under Sarfaraz, Pakistan had just 4 wins and 8 losses in Tests, a poor win-loss ratio of 0.5. Pakistan lost to SL & NZ in UAE.

When Misbah returned as coach, the numbers improved once more. Pakistan had 7 wins and 6 losses in Tests under him as coach, improving the win-loss ratio to 1.17. Pakistan also won four home Tests and did not lose any during that period.

But after Misbah’s departure, Pakistan’s Test record has again declined sharply. Since then, Pakistan have managed only 9 wins against 17 losses, a win-loss ratio of just 0.53. More worrying is that Pakistan are now struggling even against weaker teams.

So when you look at the overall pattern, one thing becomes very clear: Pakistan consistently performed better in Test cricket under Misbah than under most other captains or coaches.

This proves that Misbah understood what Pakistan needed to become a competitive Test side.


So the question is: should PCB seriously consider bringing Misbah back specifically as a Test coach?

Great post bro i am not fan of misbah i hate him for his stuff in limted overs cricket but big fan of his strategy in test this guy knew how to make test team win at home and even away.

 

[RyanRyan10]

Great post bro i am not fan of misbah i hate him for his stuff in limted overs cricket but big fan of his strategy in test this guy knew how to make test team win at home and even away.

He brought stability to the test team. Only thing I didn't like about his decision in tests was him discarding Umar Akmal.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Pakistan's problems are much deeper than simply replacing one coach with another. I also think we need to separate Misbah the captain from Misbah the coach. Misbah the captain was an okay tactician and a very good leader who understood what it took to win in Asia and at the very least, be competitive away. Misbah the coach made blunders like taking an inexperienced pace-attack of Shaheen, Naseem, Musa Khan to Australia in 2019 where they got annihilated by Warner and co. I also don't feel he was a great tactician, and he did get exposed a few times like in Australia in 2016-17. Particularly with the way he used Yasir Shah on that tour.

You could compare any era from previous years with the current one, and they would look better by comparison because nobody has seen the team sink to these kinds of lows. But that doesn't mean we are getting to the root of the problem.

 

[Savak]

I was never a big fan of Misbah but i have to admit that he knew how to get the best out of the test side and he understood the subcontinent conditions best

 

[Local.Dada]

Misbah made Pak cricket boring but effective. There is a reason why, he is the most successful test captain for Pakistan.

He brought a rare structure and discipline to Pak cricket and I would argue his efforts paved the way even for the Pak CT win.

However undoing all his efforts and making him the source of all evil was the biggest shooting in the foot moment for Pak cricket.

The reason why most go back to him is because they realize fast enough, he is a rare educated, mature and a calm and composed man in Pak cricket. However now I notice even he is scared to touch anything and just be a background player which is not good.

Shoaib Akthar, Afridi types get lot more eyeballs but they are more like what you call a show pony and their hoo-haa has no real thought behind it. Misbah is more of a workman kind of a guy but Pak fans want PCB to become like BCCI overnight and the delusions of grandeur pegs his efforts back. Ramiz Raja was one of the greatest cases of someone who found out real fast that talking and doing the work are 2 different things.

Misbah should be in some diplomatic role with govt in fact, one of the most mature and composed individuals from Pakistan

 

[Savak]

Misbah's record as coach in Pakistani conditions

1-0 test series win in Pakistan against Sri Lanka 2020
1-0 test series win in Pakistan against Bangladesh 2020
2-0 test series win in Pakistan against South Africa 2021

Go watch the series and the pitches, they were fair, balanced, pacy, bouncy with everything for the pacers who were willing to bend their backs, early new ball swing, spin for spinners later on and good for stroke play with the bat.

Shaheen was a different bowler back then, he would not habitually bowl that full inswinging yorker and would actually seam the ball away from the right hander and mix his lengths up.

Once Misbah got axed as our test coach and Babar got the freedom to do what he wanted, he instructed the curators to prepare the most dead wickets which neutralized our bowlers

 

[Savak]

Misbah made Pak cricket boring but effective. There is a reason why, he is the most successful test captain for Pakistan.

He brought a rare structure and discipline to Pak cricket and I would argue his efforts paved the way even for the Pak CT win.

However undoing all his efforts and making him the source of all evil was the biggest shooting in the foot moment for Pak cricket.

The reason why most go back to him is because they realize fast enough, he is a rare educated, mature and a calm and composed man in Pak cricket. However now I notice even he is scared to touch anything and just be a background player which is not good.

Shoaib Akthar, Afridi types get lot more eyeballs but they are more like what you call a show pony and their hoo-haa has no real thought behind it. Misbah is more of a workman kind of a guy but Pak fans want PCB to become like BCCI overnight and the delusions of grandeur pegs his efforts back. Ramiz Raja was one of the greatest cases of someone who found out real fast that talking and doing the work are 2 different things.

Misbah should be in some diplomatic role with govt in fact, one of the most mature and composed individuals from Pakistan

Totally disagree with Misbah getting any credit for the CT win. He had nothing to do with it. Mickey Arthur and Sarfaraz and their selection of youngsters who were hungry to perform and prove themselves deserve credit for that win.

 

[Local.Dada]

I was never a big fan of Misbah but i have to admit that he knew how to get the best out of the test side and he understood the subcontinent conditions best

He acknowledged the limitations without any delusion and focused on strength. That’s what every great man-manager or leader does.

Don’t want this discussion to go the political route but Imran Khan has sold a lot of chooran using his cricket success which was in fact strong enough to catapult him into a PM role. All of a sudden Pak fans wanted a certain type only and no room for anyone else.

 

[Savak]

He acknowledged the limitations without any delusion and focused on strength. That’s what every great man-manager or leader does.

Don’t want this discussion to go the political route but Imran Khan has sold a lot of chooran using his cricket success which was in fact strong enough to catapult him into a PM role. All of a sudden Pak fans wanted a certain type only and no room for anyone else.

Misbah was an excellent captain of spinners. He knew the right lines, lengths and field placings to set for them. If anything Yasir Shah's career tanked once Misbah retired.

 

[Local.Dada]

Totally disagree with Misbah getting any credit for the CT win. He had nothing to do with it. Mickey Arthur and Sarfaraz and their selection of youngsters who were hungry to perform and prove themselves deserve credit for that win.

not full credit but his management style and direction did carry forward for a couple of years till things went south. Sarfaraz was a good on field leader and he deserve credit for his strategies but nether his cricket itself or his off field persona was inspiring unlike Misbah.That’s why he had a short shelf-life despite a success even more incredible than the 92 wc win.

 

[Cric1234]

If the top 5 batsmen are all averaging under 40 in the last 3 years that's the reason for the recent losses. Pakistan beat both Windies and South Africa but drew both series the batting wasn't good enough. Bowlers are nothing special but do ok in Asia with their ability the batsmen collectively can't do it they aren't good enough. King Babar is averaging lower than Shan over a 3 year period yet Shan gets all the flak. Any previous captain would look better as currently Pakistan as a test team is as bad as its been for a long long time. Only way to change would be to drop Shan Babar Imam Shaheen and few others from other formats to give hope to PCT for a better future.

 

[W63L35]

 

[W63L35]

 

[BouncerGuy]

View attachment 164639

View attachment 164640

Saaar babar was a bad capain saaar that is why he was removed saaar. Shan can speak great ENglish saaaar. intent matters ssaaar. results don't matter saaaar....

Anyway, I want babar to stay away from captaincy race... no need to jump in this garbage.

 

[Cric1234]

Interesting table only that Babar gave the captaincy to Shan with a nice easy tour of Australia upcoming then has averaged 27 in test cricket since leaving captaincy.
Shan although not justifying his place as a batsman has been made a scapegoat somewhat with all the other batsmen underperforming.... Expect more losses for the new captain before any upturn happens.

 

[Hawkeye]

There’s a reason why Misbah is considered the best cricketing brain in the country.

Certainly at Test cricket he is, even for those who love to bash him unnecessarily. We wanted flashy characters like Rameez and that proved to be disastrous. No strategy, no reading of the game, absolute flat decks.

We are suffering till today.

 

[Hawkeye]

Misbah's record as coach in Pakistani conditions

1-0 test series win in Pakistan against Sri Lanka 2020
1-0 test series win in Pakistan against Bangladesh 2020
2-0 test series win in Pakistan against South Africa 2021

Go watch the series and the pitches, they were fair, balanced, pacy, bouncy with everything for the pacers who were willing to bend their backs, early new ball swing, spin for spinners later on and good for stroke play with the bat.

Shaheen was a different bowler back then, he would not habitually bowl that full inswinging yorker and would actually seam the ball away from the right hander and mix his lengths up.

Once Misbah got axed as our test coach and Babar got the freedom to do what he wanted, he instructed the curators to prepare the most dead wickets which neutralized our bowlers

Exactly this. His record even as a coach was excellent but public wanted a flashy talker like Ramiz take over things.

Bringing back Misbah might work but it will not be an instant flip of a switch to make the team better.

 

[tiger_khan]

Honestly man, what ever is happening to Pak cricket has something to do with Misbah, his batting style and his captaincy

He is also a very political guy, which we don't discuss enough

He has and had a very close relationship with th PCB management because he knew how to keep them happy

His 2011 semifinal innings describes him in a nutshell. The entire purpose behind the innings was to make sure that Pakistan doesn't embarrass itself and don't lose by a huge margin against India, in India. He went into his own shell and everyone had to bat around him. Shahid Afridi was visibly irritated when he was batting with him.

Nevertheless, the PCB Chairman was very happy and started to give an interview on GEO praising himself and the team for qualifying the semifinals and having a dignified result, BEFORE THE GAME WAS EVEN FINISHED

Misbah is a CORPORATE cricketer. Those of us who have spent time in professional dressing rooms know what a CORPORATE cricketer is. He only pleases the bosses. A brown-nosing, self-serving cricketer

 

[shaz619]

Misbah’s legacy was built on these players:

Younis Khan
Yasir Shah
Saeed Ajmal
Abdur Rehman
Sarfraz Ahmes

He won a few big series at ‘home’ thanks to the individual brilliance of some of Pakistan’s greatest match winners ever, but there were many series where he simply drew level, Misbah even managed to lose a Test to Zimbabwe. Away from home absolutely shocking, we should have won Tests in Australia & South Africa which he botched thanks to cowardly tactics and heartless batting. Misbah greatly benefited from the ICC points based system as a result and we got no.1 on a technicality and nothing to do with his leadership because Pakistan were never a dominant force during his time, just a solid side capable of maximising their conditions; that’s the bare minim you expect from your Test captain, he is criminally overrated because Pak have had even awful leaders since.

As a coach, the less said the better, he just kept spitting his dummy out like a clown and took young players on away tours to settle petty feuds on Geo TV

 

[Local.Dada]

I can bet right now that if Misbah was around during WTC era , Pak would have minimum played a WTC final

 

[Hawkeye]

I can bet right now that if Misbah was around during WTC era , Pak would have minimum played a WTC final

WTC final no one can say about, but being competitive is something that Misbah would have guaranteed.

The guy knows Test cricket inside out.

 

[Local.Dada]

WTC final no one can say about, but being competitive is something that Misbah would have guaranteed.

The guy knows Test cricket inside out.

It’s not too far fetched bro. Pak was a top 3 test team during the Misbah era for a couple of years.

Pak was winning at home, could beat teams like SL and Bangladesh, sneak a draw vs England or Nzl and boom you are in the finals.

I feel he knew what the limitations were and as you said planned accordingly especially in tests. While everyone was critiquing him, he was stocking up on the wins.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Problem with Pakistan is complete lack of systems and infrastructure means there is a over- reliance on nepotism and sifarish, plus we have a Messiah complex when it comes to leadership and people end up giving too much authority rather than clearly defined roles.

Misbah was a good captain but not great coach, despite this he was given too much power and made into selector etc, plus absence of systems meant he weaseled his way back into set up at the expense of Mickey Arthur. He had too much power, rather than just doing what he could have been very good at.

He could do very well as a test/FC specialist. If I was Mohsin Naqvi I would charge him and Younis Khan with sorting out domestic FC cricket but keep away completely from international and limited overs.

 

[ElRaja]

misbah was effective in the uae because azhar ali, and yk along with himself were averaging 50, ajmal ran amok chucking his way to 150 test wickets before yasir shah had an epic few years in the UAE. even sarfraz under his captaincy averaged 40+. hafeez averaged 40 with the bat and 30 with the ball.

my point isnt to denegrate his achievements, hes the last great test captain pakistan had, but he wasnt dealing the the dearth of talent in pakistan now, not one test quality batsman, not one test quality seamer, and two spinners with a combined age above 70.

the issue is that pak dont have test players, you cant strategise with a lot who dont even have the technical skills. misbah in charge of this team would do better than aqib javed, but thats only cos aqib is a leech of a presence within pakistani cricket circles.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

misbah was effective in the uae because azhar ali, and yk along with himself were averaging 50, ajmal ran amok chucking his way to 150 test wickets before yasir shah had an epic few years in the UAE. even sarfraz under his captaincy averaged 40+. hafeez averaged 40 with the bat and 30 with the ball.

my point isnt to denegrate his achievements, hes the last great test captain pakistan had, but he wasnt dealing the the dearth of talent in pakistan now, not one test quality batsman, not one test quality seamer, and two spinners with a combined age above 70.

the issue is that pak dont have test players, you cant strategise with a lot who dont even have the technical skills. misbah in charge of this team would do better than aqib javed, but thats only cos aqib is a leech of a presence within pakistani cricket circles.

Absolutely man and we were lucky to have some bowlers who we denigrated at the time like Imran Khan who kept things tight and could reverse swing. Wahab bowled some fantastic spells in UAE short fast hostile bowling without wickets but put opposition on the backfoot. How we would kill for even Wahab level test bowler on some of the pitches recently!

Reminds me of the office quote

"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them"

 

[Major]

Absolutely man and we were lucky to have some bowlers who we denigrated at the time like Imran Khan who kept things tight and could reverse swing. Wahab bowled some fantastic spells in UAE short fast hostile bowling without wickets but put opposition on the backfoot. How we would kill for even Wahab level test bowler on some of the pitches recently!

Reminds me of the office quote

"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them"

The lucky factor is to take credit away from Misbah.

I remember back in the day it was the same thing that oh he has Saeed Ajmal thats why he is winning.

But when he bought Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah and still won no one said anything.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

The lucky factor is to take credit away from Misbah.

I remember back in the day it was the same thing that oh he has Saeed Ajmal thats why he is winning.

But when he bought Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah and still won no one said anything.

I'm not taking anything from Misbah, however we must acknowledge we had better players then. Expecting someone to be parachuted in and get radically better results with this batch will not happen.

He was a very good on field captain in those days and has some good cricket knowledge. However he himself also failed quite badly as a coach later on and made severe blunders as a chief selector too.

Need to view everything in context.

 

[Hitman]

Should be brought back as coach of the team.

 

[ads101]

Kind of agree we should have kept him as test coach. And he shouldn’t have been given LOI squads.

Being strong at home/Asia is the foundation of being a strong test team. Instead I’ve seen foreign coaches going with pace heavy attacks in spin conditions. It’s trying to force the way they play on SENA on Asian subcontinent pitches.

Misbah was also the only actually excellent captain in a cricketing format we’ve had in decades. Yes others had their moments. But Misbah was consistently good in tests throughout his entire career. That’s worth something. People just lump the LOI with it when they shouldn’t.

But the decay in tests happened as soon as Misbah left captaincy. Mickey Arthur was a horrible coach, and put his ideas into practice after Misbah left. I still remember that test match against Sri Lanka, we lost that game simply due to lack of a second spinner. Even the LOI squads, mickey’s peak was the ct 2017 early on, was all downhill from there. I suspect that was more down to Sarfraz that tournament. People are even giving him credit for fakhar, he literally had him on the bench for Shehzad early tournament. Given time for mickey to work, squads worsened over time. Worse still we actually had some decent players coming in around 2017, Pakistan cricket should have built on that win. I wasn’t surprised by the second stint failing, nor the debacle as Sri Lankan coach. Failed at PSL too. I don’t think Mickey showed great aptitude to win in Asian conditions at all. And I think this obsession of getting a foreign coach to somehow wanting to be competitive in say Australia led us to even lose the competitiveness we had at home/UAE. Foreign coach or not, I still think the main priority for a coach should be winning at home.

 

[Cric1234]

You don't need Misbah to win at home you need the batsmen scoring runs when all of them are batting below the level required then more losses happen.
Series against SA and WI could have been wins and Bangladesh a draw at least if the batsmen were good enough and scoring runs which you expect from Pakistani batsmen in Asia.

 

[BouncerGuy]

He did fine as captain of Test side.. Made UAE the fortress of Pakistan. Overall, his legacy is just Test cricket mace, he held for 1-2 days but it takes a lot of time to actually get there and they did.... Since his departure as player/captain, struggle is real

 

[Cric1234]

He did fine as captain of Test side.. Made UAE the fortress of Pakistan. Overall, his legacy is just Test cricket mace, he held for 1-2 days but it takes a lot of time to actually get there and they did.... Since his departure as player/captain, struggle is real

What you fail to mention is that once he left as captain that was his team and Pakistan has been mediocre pretty much since.
It was Misbah who started the decline after inheriting a decent team for UAE conditions.
Azhar Shafiq and others performance declined and struggled to score runs. This was Misbahs team and poor strategy by Arthur and Sarfraz made things worse.
Misbah is very much part of the decline of Pakistan and to say he could win things easily now without any batsmen doing well is like saying he has a magic wand that will suddenly make the batsmen into ATGs.

 

[Hyder]

Misbah knows how to win in subcontinent. (Tests)

 

[Concerned]

Misbah had half decent test batsmen, Azhar Ali, YK, and Asad Shafique. All who are far superior than today’s captain.

 

[moghul]

Using two chuckers to win test in the roads of Dunai and Abudhabi started the decline of test cricket in Pakistan.

 

[moghul]

Misbah knows how to win in subcontinent. (Tests)

By using Chuckers and cheaters.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Misbah is history.... move on from him now.... I don't want him to come back as coach...maybe for people can make a case for him in Tests but that is the most he can do.

 

[Hyder]

By using Chuckers and cheaters.

He won alot without ajmal too so that is invalid

 

[Mohraheem]

One of the worst player to play for Pakistan..

 

[Mohraheem]

Misbah is history.... move on from him now.... I don't want him to come back as coach...maybe for people can make a case for him in Tests but that is the most he can do.

Those are proper Major Gilli Danda fans! Didn’t already Misbah showed his aukaat to his fan base that he doesn’t know any thing about coaching

 

[Hawkeye]

Misbah in his coaching stint again was our best Test coach and won all in that short stint.

There’s nobody better than Misbah available to us but I’m not even sure if he will be willing to coach us again after the pathetic unprofessional way he was removed.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Misbah in his coaching stint again was our best Test coach and won all in that short stint.

There’s nobody better than Misbah available to us but I’m not even sure if he will be willing to coach us again after the pathetic unprofessional way he was removed.

Can’t really talk about professional when it comes to Misbah, remember he was part of the committee to remove Mickey Arthur.

 

[aarizzler720]

Is Pakistan, o even taking test cricket seriously or any format, just when you think they can't get lower, they do,

 

[Mohraheem]

Misbah in his coaching stint again was our best Test coach and won all in that short stint.

There’s nobody better than Misbah available to us but I’m not even sure if he will be willing to coach us again after the pathetic unprofessional way he was removed.

Invite him to your place and do whatever you want with him. We don’t need his backward mentality

 

[Major]

Invite him to your place and do whatever you want with him. We don’t need his backward mentality

Isnt that something you and ur uncle literally did with Iftikhar Ahmed?

 

[Cric1234]

Misbah lost 19 tests and drew 11 out of 56 he captained he won 4 series when he first started as captain with a team any captain could have won in UAE with the players available then.
Over time Pakistan started declining with Misbah as captain and the decline continued after Misbah left, this is Misbahs team as he built this team over 4-5 years.
Azhar Ali ended with an average of 41-42 Shafiq averaged 38 both had strike rates in the 40s these are Misbahs batsmen whom he picked backed and they declined as Misbah was finishing being a captain.
Those UAE surfaces meant fast bowling declined what long term benefits has Misbah brought no good batsmen and no fast bowlers.

 

[Suleiman]

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The legend returns to try and bury Misbah one final time 🪏 🪏 🪏