Should Misbah-ul-Haq retire before the SCG Test?

[Junaids]

Who will you make next Captain?

I want Sami Aslam or Babar Azam to take over as skipper in roughly 2 years time, once they are established Test players. I think a Test captain should only do the job between the ages of 24 and 30 in general.

As a stopgap I would go with Sarfraz Ahmed.

I'm well aware that Salman Butt is the best skipper in the country, but I'd never give him the honour again after 2010, plus I can't justify recalling a 32 year old batsman. His chance was Australia.

By the way, it's getting clearer tonight that Misbah has already retired.

The sad thing is, he should have remembered that on the last tour of Australia - when he was 35 - he was also dropped after 2 Tests.

This was never going to work.

 

[JaDed]

Why shouldn't youngsters be given the captaincy on overseas tour,makes no sense Kohli started from Aus eventhough we lost it was a good match ,he drew one as wel and tbf he wasn't the brightest leader then.

Imo giving new captain responsibility on overseas tour shows how much the management backs them and added responsibility will improve their game.

 

[Junaids]

Its intellectual dishonesty to assume Pakistan has competed in this series.

They were out of the 1st test match by the second day when they flopped to 67-8 and folded for 140 odd. The last innings was the most pressureless innings Pakistan ever played and was the only reason they actually made 400 plus. As soon as they got close to the score, they collapsed.

The 2nd test they scored 450 (somewhat of a competition) but after giving away 650 in 5 sessions one would have thought that's the end of incompetence.

They bettered that by being bowled out in less than 50 overs.

Only a chauvinistic blind person who can't see the truth if it stares at him in the face would have the gall to even say "they have competed".

Competition is not about winning the toss and racking up a big score.

It's about not being 2-0 down after 2 tests are over and guess what?

They are.

I mean no personal offence, but it's the fault of people like you.

What do I mean?

The four highest-performing players last time they toured Australia were, in order,

1. Salman Butt
2. Mohammad Asif
3. Umar Akmal
4. Mohammad Amir

But people like you first said that Asif and Butt couldn't be selected until they performed at domestic level, and then when they did so you said that it doesn't count and neither does past record in the conditions.

The decisions that you espoused caused this.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

I mean no personal offence, but it's the fault of people like you.

What do I mean?

The four highest-performing players last time they toured Australia were, in order,

1. Salman Butt
2. Mohammad Asif
3. Umar Akmal
4. Mohammad Amir

But people like you first said that Asif and Butt couldn't be selected until they performed at domestic level, and then when they did so you said that it doesn't count and neither does past record in the conditions.

The decisions that you espoused caused this.

I don't take it personally because even those 4 ATG players wouldn't have changed the outcome of these two tests.

 

[PerfectionPersonified]

Misbah has been terrible in this match and i think he should call it quits , but i DO think he should play the Sydney test , there is no one to replace him anway from this squad

 

[MMHS]

I have no idea how anyone would think Amir is captaincy material at this point of his career. He is already struggling to live up to expectations in bowling and I dont understand how saddling him with additional responsibility is going to help anyone. Not to mention the obvious anger in the other senior players. It will be a recipe for disaster whichever way you look at it

I am not suggesting this as a fan boy, neither on Amir's talent. I'll put my explanation - then, you do your own judgement.

First, PAK has to bring a bowler or all-rounder as Captain. The core difference with team India & Pakistan lies in their historical team strategy. India always had been better under batting Captain, as their game is built on solid build-up by batting & then slow burning through disciplined bowling. Apparently, Kapil, Bedi, Kumble should have been great Captains - but it was other way round. For PAK, the team strategy is never built around batsmen - partially for lack of it, but mostly because of the style of cricket the players play.

For a struggling team like PAK, it's difficult for batting Captain; because at the end it takes only one ball for the batsman to fail & his failure is measurable. For a bowling Captain, it's easier to lead struggling sides, because he can remain relaxed - even if he goes for 30 in 3 overs, he can take a break, relax & come back for 2nd spell. Besides, a batsman's performance is measured by runs, for bowlers not necessarily he has to take bag full of wickets to be in team - which makes bowling Captains easier to be automatic choice.

There are few criteria to make a Captain - age, automatic choice, critical role in the team, experience, intelligence & ability to lead from the front. I had several post on this, many of the quotes taken from Benaud, Chappel, Brearly, Greog & Imran's book - won't go though that again.

Now, to be honest, there are not many options left at PCB's hand. Easiest option is to appoint Azhar - why not, we have discussed enough, I won't repeat. Apart from him, actually realistic option is Sarfu - groomed from U19 days, automatic choice & to this PAK side, he is a key star. Only problem is, he s WK in 3 formats & he has few years hidden in his age - making him Test Captain is a very short term solution. MoHa could have been a good option with his old action, even Asif, had he not wasted his career.

Regarding Amir's performance, I don't think, we should look only as the wicket tally - in this pathetic pace attack, he is actually bowling well. International teams don't bat with Afridi mind-set, once your fellow bowlers are wasting new ball & going at 4+, batsmen doesn't go after Amir; for that, he is always economical & actually bowling well. People over hyped him, but he is matching my expectation & he actually makes this PAK side on merit. Regarding his cricket intelligence, I don't think the bar is too high for him - no bowling Captain will set that Gabba field on 11th over of the Test. There could be issues with acceptance - which I do agree; Amir has to manage that. But, if he is accepted as player, he should be trusted as Captain as well. Also, I do think like Misbah, he is mentally tough, can fight it out.

Appointing fast bowler always has a risk associated - injury & proper resting in between matches, for that he'll need a good deputy. But, PAK doesn't have any other option, unless PCB wants to go the same merry go round - Azhar/Sarfraz & within a year same discussion. Honestly, if he was remotely smart, I would have named Yasir first, but he is absolute ...

It's a compromised call, but it's not first time that a player is made Captain from scratch. More than anything else, PAK needs a Captain who fits in to the slot - Arthur can fix the rest. Amir can fail indeed, but the positive side is, if he succeeds (which I back him to do), he can lead this side for 5/6 years - even if Azhar/Sarfu succeeds (which I don't don't back Azhar to do at least), still they have numbers written on their career - 2/3 years max.

Considering everything, if you can find me one player -

1. Under 29 (genuine)
2. All-rounder/bowler
3. Makes team on merit
4. Has minimum skill set to lead from the front in his core department

I'll never, never name Amir for this again.

 

[MMHS]

I want Sami Aslam or Babar Azam to take over as skipper in roughly 2 years time, once they are established Test players. I think a Test captain should only do the job between the ages of 24 and 30 in general.

As a stopgap I would go with Sarfraz Ahmed.

I'm well aware that Salman Butt is the best skipper in the country, but I'd never give him the honour again after 2010, plus I can't justify recalling a 32 year old batsman. His chance was Australia.

By the way, it's getting clearer tonight that Misbah has already retired.

The sad thing is, he should have remembered that on the last tour of Australia - when he was 35 - he was also dropped after 2 Tests.

This was never going to work.

Babar was my choice as deputy as I want a bowler to lead this side. Yasir is too naive to do the job, hence I do think Amir is the only option. Sarfu is a at best a stop gap, for which you can make him Captain for 2/3 Series with Amir as Deputy.

Salman was a fantastic Captain, still is - had he not been banned, he would have out done Misbah's numbers easily. But, apart from his dark past, another consideration for me is that outside AUS/NZ - Salman averages 23 including PAK & India - that too with almost 30 innings - you can't make a specialist batsman Captain with that sort of numbers; particularly when PAK's next AUS tour is at least 3 years later.

I don't see Sarfu doing much better in Test - he is a fantastic motivator, so he can keep team united & cheered up, active on field; for that, I'll always make him LO Captain; but for longer format, it has to be a bowler for me.

 

[KhalidRafi]

Wow. Some of the comments here...You guys really seem to have forgotten what Misbah has done for this team and Pakistan Cricket. Yes, he was never a great captain or a great batsman. But he lead this team from that shameful spot-fixing scandal to the No.1 Test spot. I doubt there is anyone in Pakistan Cricket who had the character, temperament and resolve to accomplish that, not to mention a pretty ordinary crop of players.

And coming back to the question, he should absolutely play the final test. Who is gonna come in his place? Rizwan? I hardly, hardly doubt he will fare any better and the series is already lost. I think he deserves to play his last match and get a proper send-off.

 

[Junaids]

Wow. Some of the comments here...You guys really seem to have forgotten what Misbah has done for this team and Pakistan Cricket. Yes, he was never a great captain or a great batsman. But he lead this team from that shameful spot-fixing scandal to the No.1 Test spot. I doubt there is anyone in Pakistan Cricket who had the character, temperament and resolve to accomplish that, not to mention a pretty ordinary crop of players.

And coming back to the question, he should absolutely play the final test. Who is gonna come in his place? Rizwan? I hardly, hardly doubt he will fare any better and the series is already lost. I think he deserves to play his last match and get a proper send-off.

I think you are being unfair on Misbah.

He has clearly disintegrated mentally. It's not fair on him for him to be humiliated in Sydney.

A good career can be undone by a prolonged decline and belated departure. Sachin Tendulkar - an undoubted ATG - will forever carry the stain (outside Asia only, for some reason) of his public decline and belated departure. His so-called "hundredth hundred" made him into a figure of mockery.

Ian Chappell created a culture in Australia of players retiring at the top.

Unfortunately both Misbah and Younis seem intent on copying Javed Miandad in retiring at Rock Bottom.

Misbah did well putting together a team traumatised by the fixing scandals. But his ludicrous decision - or should I say agreement - to carry on to Australia and New Zealand has left him going out at the bottom.

 

[Statsman]

Apparently Misbah has mentioned after the game that he is undecided about Sydney test.

 

[ali ray]

Wow. Some of the comments here...You guys really seem to have forgotten what Misbah has done for this team and Pakistan Cricket. Yes, he was never a great captain or a great batsman. But he lead this team from that shameful spot-fixing scandal to the No.1 Test spot. I doubt there is anyone in Pakistan Cricket who had the character, temperament and resolve to accomplish that, not to mention a pretty ordinary crop of players.

And coming back to the question, he should absolutely play the final test. Who is gonna come in his place? Rizwan? I hardly, hardly doubt he will fare any better and the series is already lost. I think he deserves to play his last match and get a proper send-off.

We wants series win in Australia, if not then no respect for him

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

No not at all. I don't want pride of pakistan to act like coward and leave the team midseries.

In our past one captain did this cowardly act.


Learn to respect your heroes. Criticise them if needed but do not admonish them do not ridicule them. The Don Bradman (batsman) and the Mike Brearly (Captain) can wait for one more test to replace Misbah.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

I am not going to read comments as i know very well why this thread is 2 pages long so early.

Not reading because I know you have a history of ridiculing national heroes and you will keep on doing that. Its your national trait now.

 

[jeetu]

Sydney wicket should suit Pakistan's style of play. Dropping Misbah , Younis would be a mistake.

 

[KhalidRafi]

I think you are being unfair on Misbah.

He has clearly disintegrated mentally. It's not fair on him for him to be humiliated in Sydney.

A good career can be undone by a prolonged decline and belated departure. Sachin Tendulkar - an undoubted ATG - will forever carry the stain (outside Asia only, for some reason) of his public decline and belated departure. His so-called "hundredth hundred" made him into a figure of mockery.

Ian Chappell created a culture in Australia of players retiring at the top.

Unfortunately both Misbah and Younis seem intent on copying Javed Miandad in retiring at Rock Bottom.

Misbah did well putting together a team traumatised by the fixing scandals. But his ludicrous decision - or should I say agreement - to carry on to Australia and New Zealand has left him going out at the bottom.

Had Misbah done that, he would have been labelled as a coward. People would have said he won the series in UAE and retired when the tougher tours came around. I think Misbah owed it to himself to play these series because if it was anyone under whom Pakistan was to win these series, it was him. I highly doubt someone inexperienced like Sarfraz or Azhar Ali could have led Pakistan to a series draw in England or done any better down under.

Scrutiny was bound to come whether he retired early or not. I think it was better that he atleast tried to win these series. Tendulkar wasn't captain and his case was very different so I don't believe that's a fair comparison.

 

[Statsman]

Sydney wicket should suit Pakistan's style of play. Dropping Misbah , Younis would be a mistake.

Both got out to spinners today. Misbah looked disinterested.

Also, if YK does get a 100 or 200 on a pitch that suits him, what will be the way forward?

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

Misbah wanted to retire after England series in 2015, but the management forced him on..

Really? They held a gun to his head or something?

Stop the nonsense of him being forced to continue. He was not. He chose to continue.

 

[Hasan123]

He should play the last game and go out on a high, the series is over anyway. But the next game should be his last in a Pakistan shirt.

Thank you for all the memories Misbah, 2010-2016 England tour a golden era of Pakistan test cricket that may have not been possible without you, thanks for everything.

 

[Adil_94]

misbah should announce his retirement before the Sydney Test and ride off into the sunset. We need new blood in this team

 

[Bilal7]

The experience of batting of Australia and then building on from it.

In the first match, Pakistan only batted well in the last innings after the Aussies had declared their second innings. Australia were well in control of that game up until Shafiq's special.

The Australians have played better but what I am saying is that we have competed quite well. Both games have gone into the final hour and there has been cause for optimism for Pakistan in the batting of Azhar and Shafiq.

So your claim that the Aussies will steamroll Pakistan again is inaccurate, as it is pessimistic. Pakistan haven't been steamrolled in either match and they certainly have the ability to make it a close game at the SCG too, if not go the full distance.

I agree that the experience would be beneficial but we don't have any young batsmen in the squad barring Sami and Babar. Rizwan is a keeper-batsman and it would be totally unfair for him to have his first two test matches be in New Zealand and Australia.

 

[Jabo]

First of all Shahryar Khan is a total idiot, he likes to running to the media 24/7, something is wrong with the old man. So him saying Misbah should stay, I wouldn't really listen to it because he probably just wanted to speak to the media that day.

Misbah should retire, but complete the series.

He can retire after the final game.

 

[Kianig89]

Mizbah has done amazing work but his time is up give Rizwan a go will be learning curve for Rizzy and Shafiq n Sarfraz should move up a no. For WI series replace YK with world class Shehzad or Jr.

 

[Asif321]

should announce before test and atleast get a farewell . no point in playing more no more big test series coming up . this is the right time

 

[Asif321]

Misbah has been wonderful and changed the rotten image of Pakistan team . he has had limitations but he has done his best .... will leave with his head high

 

[Abdul]

if any country could have broken Misbah, it had to be Australia. I hope he plays at SCG, and I hope he goes out on a high, deserves every bit.

 

[The_KING]

No, he should play the final test and then retire. He deserves to go out on his own terms and not being forced out.

 

[omer28]

o be honest to misbah imo he was never a great batsman nor a great captain . The problem is that unfortunately we dint have any better options available at our disposal . We dont have a captaincy material candidate now either to replace him. To be honest after imran and javed miandad most of the captains that we had were below par and misbah was not an exception either . Our cricket has declined over the years , I wouldnt let the ranking system fool me for one bit , there should be more critical analyzation than just emphasizing on the ranking system . We should have seen it coming and this should have been accepted 3-0 was the most likely result . In the first test match in the uae , we almost lost to the west indiees and we eventually did loose the third test match to the lowly ranked west indiees at home . Then we lost 2-0 to new zealand in swing friendly conditions . In the past the only reason that pakistan bowling was effective in overseas conditions was because our bowlers were good at conventional and reverse swing .

Misbah was a very smart captain since he was somewhat more educated than his predecessors and had prior experience of failures he understood one thing very well . The most of the public that follows cricket in pakistan judges you by 1 thing and that is " runs scored" and batting average . I have seldom seen a player who is as selfish as misbah and all along his career he played for himself and was never a team player . I can not even count the number of " odi" matches that we lost because of his selfishness . He consumed 20-30 balls to get off the mark , his strike rate was 20-25 odd for his first 20 -30 runs and that put enormous pressure on other players and they often capitulated in that pressure created by misbah and guess what when all of them got out , he was the sole person standing on the wicket and he had no pressure on him batting with the tail whatsoever , he was just waiting for the arrival of spin bowling . This is one area where he thrived , this is his strength he is a very good player of spin bowling so he would attack spinners straight away and dominated them , through this process towards the end of the innings he managed to get the strike rate at the 80ish mark and pakistan almost always lost . Cant think of many matches where we won in " odis" with misbah standing towards the end and he had no pressure on him in all those situations . Infact people often said oh misbah is the man he made 60 with a strike rate of 80 odd what else could he have probably done , every one else gave their wicket away etc . what people dont realise is that misbah could not rotate strike at all and the person next to him would be starved of strike for many deliveries and with the run rate climbing all the time had to cover up for misbah and got out in the process .

As far as misbahs test heroics are concerned he did relatively well over there because there was no scoreboard pressure at all . He adviced all his subordinates ( azhar ali / sami aslam/ younis khan ) etc to consume as many deliveries as possible . Pakistan normally operates at 2 to 2.5 runs an over against pace even in " flat dead pitches " on the uae . This has been a trend and probably invented by misbah . So basically after these players consume 50-60 overs of pace bowling , by the time misbah comes to bat the pacers of opposing teams are usually very tired in their third , fourth spells and he blocks blocks and blocks and waits for the spinners to arrive ( knowing that those pacers are usually in their last spells) and not to mention the ball is soft and old in uae barely does anything .

As far as his captaincy goes " he is a terrible captain" as defensive as his playing style . You as an opponent only have to hit a few boundaries and he would go defensive right away . Against a team as attacking as australia you cant go defensive right away , By being defensive on a flat track you are asking for trouble .

To be a little fair to him specially in australia , we dont have the right bowling combinations ..you have to look no further than the averages of these mediocre bowlers that we have . they are extremely unfit as well and cant bowl after the first spell . what pakistan dearly missed was an allrounder even a stock bowlers who could bowl 8-10 overs at 2-3 runs an over to give rest to our pace bowlers . Yasir shah is a leg spinner and will always be an attacking option , there is no way he can contain the batsmen ( he is not a stock bowler) .
He is only good on tracks in the " uae" where the ball keeps low , there is uneven bounce and his variations work because more often than not he has the backing of 400-500 runs that teams have had to chase on a wearing fouth and fifth day pitch . He was really found wanted on these aussie tracks with little help for spinners like yasir shah who are not big turners of the ball .. danish kaneria and mushtaq were much better than him in overseas conditions . One great ability that ajmal had was that he could attack and also defend we do miss his services. The main reason for pakistan doing well in " uae " conditions in the past year or two years is because of younis khan . When he retires pakistan will miss his services in the " uae" for sure and its difficult to replace him . He is a high impact player in test matches , he rotates the strike well and one of his biggest strengths is his ability to occupy the crease for days ( when he gets to 70-80 he gets big hundreds and this is his real strength ) he deflates the opposition . azhar ali and asad shafiq have developed as good players and they are the future . what we need in the test side is more balance , an all rounder stock bowler so that you can rest your unfit ( pacers) without going at 4-5 runs an over and we need to end this era of being super defensive .. you need atleast one aggressive opener .. this is very important so that he can counter the pacers and spoil their line and length and momentum .. very essential..need a balance rite now every one plays the same brand of cricket introduced by misbah tuk tuk tuk ... we will make the opposing pacers tired on these flat uae decks ... i fancy my luck in uae and have a very high record of winning tosses .. we will bat first you guys will consume 50-60 overs so that by the time i come , they are already tired ,ball is not doing much and i can score against their spinners ( bowling on the first and second day) with nothing to offer . If we can have 400 to defend in the last innings and yasir shah bowling on the fift day on a wearing pitch ( un even bounce ) we will almost certainly win ... winnng formula not pretty but effective .

we need some flamboyant players and end this era of tuk tuk tuk and the uae script otherwise we will never be a good team .. sohail khan is garbage .. you need another good bowler to bowl with amir ..its about pairs to maintain pressure and that will get you wickets .. on flat wickets with not much to offer amir alone cant do anything ( he is not a great bowler , please get this misconception out of your heads) he is amongst the best that we have certainly a better than average bowler

why not think out of the box and get an aggressive captain to change player psyche and mentality for a change . I think imad wasim has the potential to be a good captain , he has shown that by playing down the order under pressure . He is aggressive , confident and could he possibly do worst then azhar ali ? azhar ali is a good player without a doubt but not captaincy material ( a deputy of misbah ? he will be worst than misbah ) full defensive

 

[moghul]

It would have been very hard on Azhar/Sarfraz to tour Australia so early in their captaincy. Getting thrashed here would have done them a lot of damage, and obviously the results would have been no different.

Misbah had to take this one. His legacy is already cemented and he can walk away with his head high. I hope he can score one final hundred in Sydney and sign off on a personal high.

Azhar or Sarfraz, could not have done worst, there was very good chances they would have done better.

Misbah has ruined his legacy and I can;t say anyone can walk away with his head high after leaving the the huge number of cricket followers to such embarrassing defeat after defeat.

He has a golden chance of leaving on high after England but due to greediness he has lost most, if not all of his stocks, he has lost my respect for him at least. I had a depressing day, thanks to him,

 

[Donal Cozzie]

No.

IMO as captain its his responsibility to finish the tour. Next match should be his final game and then he should retire. Throwing captaincy to someone for 1 test at short notice in Australia wont exactly accomplish much.

 

[Junaids]

Azhar or Sarfraz, could not have done worst, there was very good chances they would have done better.

Misbah has ruined his legacy and I can;t say anyone can walk away with his head high after leaving the the huge number of cricket followers to such embarrassing defeat after defeat.

He has a golden chance of leaving on high after England but due to greediness he has lost most, if not all of his stocks, he has lost my respect for him at least. I had a depressing day, thanks to him,

Harsh but true.

The endless threads questioning whether Waqar Younis was an ATG highlight how playing on past your prime compromises a player's legacy.

Asian people tend not to believe this, but so too did Sachin Tendulkar's final years.

Younis Khan doesn't see that his long, slow public decline outside Asia damages his reputation more than 10,000 runs would enhance it.

And Misbah is perhaps too selfless to have bothered about being exposed as a flat track specialist right at the end of his career.

But it is unheard of since Colin Cowdrey and Brian Close for such old men to continue as Test cricketers.

And both Younis and Misbah have embarrassed themselves.

And, given that on the last tour here Salman Butt hit 280 runs and Umar Akmal scored 199, the occupation of their places by Younis and Misbah for so few runs has probably turned two draws into defeats.

 

[yasir]

It would have been very hard on Azhar/Sarfraz to tour Australia so early in their captaincy. Getting thrashed here would have done them a lot of damage, and obviously the results would have been no different.

Misbah had to take this one. His legacy is already cemented and he can walk away with his head high. I hope he can score one final hundred in Sydney and sign off on a personal high.

Pakistan get these tours (Eng, NZ, Australia) all in single year, you cannot prepared them separately, they should have thought about them at least 12-18 months before these tour, clearly they did not think through them. Bowlers, batsmen, openers nothing was planned. Sami and Azhar blunted new ball that give us couple of heart breaking but respectable defeat (don't forget defeats in SA, those were not even close)...

Addition of Amir was rushed to hide lack of pace bowlers, they might as well added Asif, that could have helped us more respectable show in that department then we had.

Sticking with Misbah and YK was bad planning. That had been shielding but dry and late summer in England, after which PCB doubled down on Misbah, that back fired. They are part of the problem not solution.

Now, defeat or margin of defeat does not matter, no point of playing both of them in a single more test, team has to move forward. We need new batsmen, bowlers and Captain. After this series, they can keep playing for another year or two in UAE, that's what they have been doing for last 3/4 years, but is that the right thing to do??

 

[moghul]

Sooner Misbah leaves is better, why tomorrow, why not today.

Azhar has proven he can perform under pressure and that's good enough for me.

 

[waleed88]

Really? They held a gun to his head or something?

Stop the nonsense of him being forced to continue. He was not. He chose to continue.

No he said he was contemplating retirement, but the honorable thing to do was to carry on and not abandon ship when the difficult tours arrive.. However no one can deny that he exceeded expectations in England, but really disappointed against Australia..

I don't blame him for losing the NZ test because we were very underprepared for that tour

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

No he said he was contemplating retirement, but the honorable thing to do was to carry on and not abandon ship when the difficult tours arrive.. However no one can deny that he exceeded expectations in England, but really disappointed against Australia..

I don't blame him for losing the NZ test because we were very underprepared for that tour

Honourable? Does it look honourable now? I don't think so. It looks stupid and like he held on too long.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Yes. He should have retired after the England series. The only reason he is continuing now is because of match fees. You can tell he has no passion left in his game, just going through the motions.

 

[Mamoon]

No.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Yes. He should have retired after the England series. The only reason he is continuing now is because of match fees. You can tell he has no passion left in his game, just going through the motions.

I know you are angry but please don't insult the most respected cricketer in the world this way.

 

[Cricket World]

He has done a great job but he should retire now straight away.

 

[JattMaula]

He should annouce that this will be his last test and make his last Stand epic with his performance. People will remember it forever.

 

[moghul]

I have no idea why some people still want Misbag to play at Sydney, what contribution he has made on the tour to deserve that ? Or, they just want to give him a farewell test when he doesn't deserves on merit, then why not give one to Afridi and some others if international cricket is a joke for you.

 

[Tabishbeigh]

Captain is arguably the strongest member of the team. If he retires before SCG ,it would simply mean that the strongest member of the cricket team is nothing but a "CHICKEN". I rather have him stand up and score than be a coward and run away! No , now he shouldn't retire!! IF you tell Aussies that your Strongest man has chicken out trust me they would chew Pakistan to bones!

 

[umerz]

He should announce the retirement before the test however should retire after playing 3rd test

 

[Pete Rose]

Its intellectual dishonesty to assume Pakistan has competed in this series.

They were out of the 1st test match by the second day when they flopped to 67-8 and folded for 140 odd. The last innings was the most pressureless innings Pakistan ever played and was the only reason they actually made 400 plus. As soon as they got close to the score, they collapsed.

The 2nd test they scored 450 (somewhat of a competition) but after giving away 650 in 5 sessions one would have thought that's the end of incompetence.

They bettered that by being bowled out in less than 50 overs.

Only a chauvinistic blind person who can't see the truth if it stares at him in the face would have the gall to even say "they have competed".

Competition is not about winning the toss and racking up a big score.

It's about not being 2-0 down after 2 tests are over and guess what?

They are.

Disagree with right down to the last word.
But yes if the insight here is meant to be sky is blue and grass is green, we have a winner.

 

[Hasan123]

Yes. He should have retired after the England series. The only reason he is continuing now is because of match fees. You can tell he has no passion left in his game, just going through the motions.

Disgraceful comments, lesser comments than this have been deleted by the moderators but this one is kept.

Yes I get your angry but there is no need for comments like this. Misbah is a well educated man I'm sure he could find another career outside of cricket.

 

[Sadevdesai]

Should be allowed to retire gracefully after the Sydney Test Match for all his contributions to Pakistan Cricket !!!!!

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Disagree with right down to the last word.
But yes if the insight here is meant to be sky is blue and grass is green, we have a winner.

So for you competition is winning the toss and racking up a big score. Was that the competition you were talking about in the 2nd test?

Because after that we were completely out of the 2nd test.

And for the 1st it was about hitting 450 after never having a chance to win.

Oh yeah, it must be because Shafiq hit a century that you have to label that as a gutsy performance.

 

[Big Mac]

Looks like the management has confirmed that Misbah will be leading the team in Sydney.

 

[Junaids]

Looks like the management has confirmed that Misbah will be leading the team in Sydney.

Yes, confirmed now.

I'm still proud of Mike Denness for dropping himself 42 years ago in Australia - it was a real sign of integrity.

I wonder whether Mickey and Steve Rixon pushed Misbah to play one more game. If he fails again, the power dynamic moves further again.

 

[Big Mac]

Yes, confirmed now.

I'm still proud of Mike Denness for dropping himself 42 years ago in Australia - it was a real sign of integrity.

I wonder whether Mickey and Steve Rixon pushed Misbah to play one more game. If he fails again, the power dynamic moves further again.

I wouldn't be surprised if players/coaches helped convince him to play in Sydney but I'd be surprised if it was for the Machiavellian reasons you suggest. Misbah's dismissal to Lyon in Melbourne was the final icing on the cake of a test where he looked increasingly disinterested on the field and ready for retirement.

There was never any huge danger of Misbah continuing after this tour so I doubt Mickey would have pushed him to play in the hopes that he fails, especially against Australia where he'd be desperate to get a win over his former team.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">According to reports Misbah will lead Pakistan for the 3rd Test match in Sydney. No decision made yet on retirement <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUSvPAK?src=hash">#AUSvPAK</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/815487158798716928">January 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[JibranAnsari]

He should play the test match and then retire after the series. No good replacements are there anyway. I hope he scores a ton in sydney and retire.

 

[JibranAnsari]

Good decision not to retire before the last test.

 

[Pete Rose]

So for you competition is winning the toss and racking up a big score. Was that the competition you were talking about in the 2nd test?

Because after that we were completely out of the 2nd test.

And for the 1st it was about hitting 450 after never having a chance to win.

Oh yeah, it must be because Shafiq hit a century that you have to label that as a gutsy performance.

I think if the analysis reads like we are 0-2 it means we did not compete, then it's too simplistic to argue against

 

[Last Monetarist]

There is no integrity in a rat slithering away and abandoning a sinking ship. Misbah was in a tough spot after the England tour as he would have been pilloried either way. One can readily imagine the likes of Yousaf and Shoaib shouting from the rooftops on how Misbah was a gutless coward who ran away from tough challenges; and we have the tedious sanctimonious moralizing from the likes of [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] and others on this forum on how another captain would have allowed Pakistan to compete better on these tours.

The risk of ruining his career was immense, and I am sure the lure of retiring on a high after The Oval test would have been not insignificant, but as always the man chose not to leave his team stranded and take these inevitable blows to his legacy in their stead. I'm sure I am laying it on a bit thick with the hyperbole, but Misbah is exactly the sort of man I would be proud to follow in the trenches.

I'm willing to bet history will choose to be kind to the man.

 

[Junaids]

There is no integrity in a rat slithering away and abandoning a sinking ship. Misbah was in a tough spot after the England tour as he would have been pilloried either way. One can readily imagine the likes of Yousaf and Shoaib shouting from the rooftops on how Misbah was a gutless coward who ran away from tough challenges; and we have the tedious sanctimonious moralizing from the likes of [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] and others on this forum on how another captain would have allowed Pakistan to compete better on these tours.

The risk of ruining his career was immense, and I am sure the lure of retiring on a high after The Oval test would have been not insignificant, but as always the man chose not to leave his team stranded and take these inevitable blows to his legacy in their stead. I'm sure I am laying it on a bit thick with the hyperbole, but Misbah is exactly the sort of man I would be proud to follow in the trenches.

I'm willing to bet history will choose to be kind to the man.

My issue is not his captaincy.

And I don't think that Younis should slither away from the blame either.

My issue is that it is utterly insane to expect men in their forties to score enough runs in Australia.

It is insane by the selectors and stupid by the players themselves.

Even Ponting and the Chappells and Hayden and Clarke were not stupid enough to try this. And they were used to Aussie conditions.

Just because an 82 year old administrator wants you to do it is no reason to do it.

It was the cricketing equivalent of removing the life rafts from the Titanic. It was as stupid on a sporting level as the pilot of the Chapecoense flight leaving without enough fuel.

Younis and Misbah should have retired early enough to give their successors enough experience for a tour of Australia. If Babar Azam had been promoted after his century v Australia he would have arrived for the First Test with 22 previous ones under his belt, rather than 3.

 

[moghul]

Disappointing to know Misbah after almost announcing he would not play at Sydney is going to play. I probably will "boycott" this one. Tired of myself going through pain and anger watching Pakistan team going through so much humiliation under his captaincy and with his batting.

 

[MRSN]

My issue is not his captaincy.

And I don't think that Younis should slither away from the blame either.

My issue is that it is utterly insane to expect men in their forties to score enough runs in Australia.

It is insane by the selectors and stupid by the players themselves.

Even Ponting and the Chappells and Hayden and Clarke were not stupid enough to try this. And they were used to Aussie conditions.

Just because an 82 year old administrator wants you to do it is no reason to do it.

It was the cricketing equivalent of removing the life rafts from the Titanic. It was as stupid on a sporting level as the pilot of the Chapecoense flight leaving without enough fuel.

Younis and Misbah should have retired early enough to give their successors enough experience for a tour of Australia. If Babar Azam had been promoted after his century v Australia he would have arrived for the First Test with 22 previous ones under his belt, rather than 3.

well they have enjoyed their farewell at the cost of Pakistan. absolutely selfish bunch of cricketers. I will never have any respect for any cricketer who thinks his career is important than the country.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

I think if the analysis reads like we are 0-2 it means we did not compete, then it's too simplistic to argue against

There is no such thing as moral victory.

If we end up with 3-0 loss in Australia the record books show 3-0.

No one will every revise the history and say "Well ATG teams of Pakistan lost 3-0 but in 2016 Pakistan competed better than those ATG teams yet still lost 3-0, so it was definitely some sort of victory".

Everyone will look at this series the same way.

Another one of those series that Pakistan lost 3-0 as usual in Australia.

If you disagree with that, feel free to call me out.

 

[Pete Rose]

There is no such thing as moral victory.

If we end up with 3-0 loss in Australia the record books show 3-0.

No one will every revise the history and say "Well ATG teams of Pakistan lost 3-0 but in 2016 Pakistan competed better than those ATG teams yet still lost 3-0, so it was definitely some sort of victory".

Everyone will look at this series the same way.

Another one of those series that Pakistan lost 3-0 as usual in Australia.

If you disagree with that, feel free to call me out.

I don't think there's much to argue against.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Ultimately Sanity prevails.

 

[Statsman]

Still waiting for Misbah to retire. Great servant for Pakistan cricket but not sure what he wants now. The team is settled with Azhar, Asad, Sarfaraz, Yasir, Wahab and Aamir forming the solid core.

I'm sure they can collectively groom Misbah and YK's replacement.

He should let Sarfaraz play the WI tour as captain and get an early boost that will give him confidence and help his test captaincy.