Would you pick Misbah-ul-Haq over Inzamam-ul-Haq in ODIs?

[Kianig89]

That's the exact reason major don't like inzi.. he believes inzi was the reason to Misbah late debut..

Misbah was doing MBA, when Inzi use to lash Prasad Mohanti Agarkar Joshi etc

 

[zulfiqar]

It's a definite no-brainer answer - no way. Very few people could get into a Pak ODI team over Inzi - the main ones that come to mind are Saeed Anwar, Zaheer Abbas and Miandad. Babar would be the next person that comes to mind, but he isn't there yet. Needs to play some clutch ODI knocks to get in there. We play so few ODIs these days that I'm not sure if he'll ever get enough chances.

 

[ahmadharis1]

My first thought was "Inzamam easily"

Then I thought about it more closely; their records, batting ability, top performances

and then I came to the conclusion "Inzamam no question, ten times out of ten"

 

[Rana]

Misbah is a few years younger than Inzimam, and is around the same age of Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.

For years, the guy tried his hand to break into the Pakistan team whilst Inzi/YK/Moyo remained one of the strongest middle orders (positions 3-5) in world cricket.

Throughout these years, Pakistan struggled time and time again for reliable openers. We must have tried dozens of opening combinations once Saeed Anwar retired in 2003. I never understood why Misbah never went out of his comfort zone and opened the batting for his domestic team to somehow come under contention for an opening batsman position. Pakistan could have done with a guy with a good defence and built his innings with partnerships with the middle order batsmen.

It’s his own loss. Inzimam is not to blame for Misbah never showing any kind of versatility as a batsman.

 

[topspin]

Misbah is a few years younger than Inzimam, and is around the same age of Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.

For years, the guy tried his hand to break into the Pakistan team whilst Inzi/YK/Moyo remained one of the strongest middle orders (positions 3-5) in world cricket.

Throughout these years, Pakistan struggled time and time again for reliable openers. We must have tried dozens of opening combinations once Saeed Anwar retired in 2003. I never understood why Misbah never went out of his comfort zone and opened the batting for his domestic team to somehow come under contention for an opening batsman position. Pakistan could have done with a guy with a good defence and built his innings with partnerships with the middle order batsmen.

It’s his own loss. Inzimam is not to blame for Misbah never showing any kind of versatility as a batsman.

I agree he should’ve given it a go but you also have to remember he was really stubborn and set in his own ways. He should’ve been flexible with his thinking rather being so rigid.

Deep down, I think he knew he would be exposed against the top quality pace attacks bowling with the new ball. Can you imagine Misbah facing Glenn McGrath in the first over? Allah Khair are the words that come to mind.

Misbah fans like to think that Misbah was a good player of swing and seam. He looks okay against 80mph bowlers of short/average height but once you crank it up to 140+ he doesn’t look so good. He was walking wicket against taller bowlers at any pace. That’s one of the reasons why he was so poor in Australia and South Africa.

 

[BouncerGuy]

I would pick Inzamam due to his aggressive batting and experience over Misbah any day. Although Misbah has had a good run in his career but he was a slow starter.

 

[kach]

As an Indian who has followed cricket for the last 30 years, Inzamam >>>>> Misbah.
Every time we played Pakistan we knew if we couldn't get Inzamam out early, it was over for us.
For all the fitness issues he had that resulted in terrible running in between the wickets, he was a magician with the bat.
For those who say he didn't perform in World Cups, well he won you one in 92.

Misbah did not inspire anybody and never gave us sleepless nights. He was non impactful.

 

[Mamoon]

Misbah is a few years younger than Inzimam, and is around the same age of Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.

For years, the guy tried his hand to break into the Pakistan team whilst Inzi/YK/Moyo remained one of the strongest middle orders (positions 3-5) in world cricket.

Throughout these years, Pakistan struggled time and time again for reliable openers. We must have tried dozens of opening combinations once Saeed Anwar retired in 2003. I never understood why Misbah never went out of his comfort zone and opened the batting for his domestic team to somehow come under contention for an opening batsman position. Pakistan could have done with a guy with a good defence and built his innings with partnerships with the middle order batsmen.

It’s his own loss. Inzimam is not to blame for Misbah never showing any kind of versatility as a batsman.

More than Misbah, Pakistan missed a trick by not opening with Yousuf. He had an excellent record at 3 and could have moved up on position to strengthen the opening.

Misbah could have been a solid, defensive number 3 like Dravid. Such players had value at 3 in the 2000s.

Yousuf
Butt
Misbah
Younis
Inzamam
Kamran

This top 6 would have been more successful than the ones Pakistan kept trying after Saeed Anwar retired.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Misbah is a few years younger than Inzimam, and is around the same age of Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.

For years, the guy tried his hand to break into the Pakistan team whilst Inzi/YK/Moyo remained one of the strongest middle orders (positions 3-5) in world cricket.

Throughout these years, Pakistan struggled time and time again for reliable openers. We must have tried dozens of opening combinations once Saeed Anwar retired in 2003. I never understood why Misbah never went out of his comfort zone and opened the batting for his domestic team to somehow come under contention for an opening batsman position. Pakistan could have done with a guy with a good defence and built his innings with partnerships with the middle order batsmen.

It’s his own loss. Inzimam is not to blame for Misbah never showing any kind of versatility as a batsman.

This type of innovation was unheard of in Pakistan at the time.

Players stuck to their guns and never tried to add additional skillsets to break into the team.

 

[mominsaigol]

I agree he should’ve given it a go but you also have to remember he was really stubborn and set in his own ways. He should’ve been flexible with his thinking rather being so rigid.

Deep down, I think he knew he would be exposed against the top quality pace attacks bowling with the new ball. Can you imagine Misbah facing Glenn McGrath in the first over? Allah Khair are the words that come to mind.

Misbah fans like to think that Misbah was a good player of swing and seam. He looks okay against 80mph bowlers of short/average height but once you crank it up to 140+ he doesn’t look so good. He was walking wicket against taller bowlers at any pace. That’s one of the reasons why he was so poor in Australia and South Africa.

I watched an interview a long time ago when an interviewer asked misbah why he doesn't open, and misbah said

Kya mein chockei nahi marta?

Jokes aside I wish yousaf was tried as an opener. Yousaf was a soft scorer but the type of player who made everyone else super comfortable and oppositons feared yousaf due to his ability to never let the game go away.

Yousaf at opening would fix alot of problems, it would literally establish someone who can bat through, and the rub rate would keep and keep on steadily decreasing through and through.

 

[topspin]

This type of innovation was unheard of in Pakistan at the time.

Players stuck to their guns and never tried to add additional skillsets to break into the team.

I would argue in the 90s and 2000s Pakistan were ahead of the curve.

We had Afridi opening and were stacked were all-rounders which meant Pakistan had a very deep batting line-up. After the 2015 World Cup, England adopted the same approach with their batting line-up. At one point I remember they had Adil Rashid at number 11.

Pakistan went backwards after the 2007 World Cup.

 

[topspin]

I watched an interview a long time ago when an interviewer asked misbah why he doesn't open, and misbah said

Kya mein chockei nahi marta?

Jokes aside I wish yousaf was tried as an opener. Yousaf was a soft scorer but the type of player who made everyone else super comfortable and oppositons feared yousaf due to his ability to never let the game go away.

Yousaf at opening would fix alot of problems, it would literally establish someone who can bat through, and the rub rate would keep and keep on steadily decreasing through and through.

I totally agree. Yousuf would’ve been better opening the batting.

 

[Major]

Cricket fans saying Misbah should had been opener

Like what evenn......


Openers and middle order batters have different skill set. An opener relies on his muscle memory alot and not much on footwork to get scoring off the new ball. The ball moves so you have to be careful. This is why someone like Sharjeel has done well as an opener in domestic cricket.

 

[Major]

I watched an interview a long time ago when an interviewer asked misbah why he doesn't open, and misbah said

Kya mein chockei nahi marta?

Jokes aside I wish yousaf was tried as an opener. Yousaf was a soft scorer but the type of player who made everyone else super comfortable and oppositons feared yousaf due to his ability to never let the game go away.

Yousaf at opening would fix alot of problems, it would literally establish someone who can bat through, and the rub rate would keep and keep on steadily decreasing through and through.

nope, that answer was to the question on why he doesnt he play aggressive.

To the question why Misbah doesnt play in the upper order, he simple said upper order and openers have different skill set to play agaisnt the new ball.

 

[mominsaigol]

nope, that answer was to the question on why he doesnt he play aggressive.

To the question why Misbah doesnt play in the upper order, he simple said upper order and openers have different skill set to play agaisnt the new ball.

Okay

 

[Major]

More than Misbah, Pakistan missed a trick by not opening with Yousuf. He had an excellent record at 3 and could have moved up on position to strengthen the opening.

Misbah could have been a solid, defensive number 3 like Dravid. Such players had value at 3 in the 2000s.

Yousuf
Butt
Misbah
Younis
Inzamam
Kamran

This top 6 would have been more successful than the ones Pakistan kept trying after Saeed Anwar retired.

Bro, i find you to be sane enough when talking about batting. How can you even say Misbah bat at no.3?

Your opening spot is given to batters that can see off the new ball and play with muscle memory. Your no.3 batter is the guy who has good footwork and can play the new ball but with foot work. THese guys dont get the opening spot as its too risky especially your good footwork can led you to edging it back.

Younis was a terrible odi batter.

Misbah was always suited for lower order batting and middle order batting.

 

[Bhaijaan]

I have immense respect for both. I don’t think Misbah was that much talented but he overachieved thanks to his dedication and honesty towards the game. As a captain, he earned respect and seriousness towards Pakistan cricket due to his professionalism.

Inzamam was an elite talent, he watched the ball till the last moment and timed it to perfection. He could have achieved more. Firstly if all the run outs and brainfades are corrected his average automatically jumps way higher. I think his World Cup record is disgraceful. There’s one knock which ranks among the finest and most ridiculous knocks of all time in the World Cup history and then he has literally nothing to show for. That’s a bit of a shame for such a great cricketer. 2007 he was in great form but the format of the tournament screwed him.

 

[mominsaigol]

Bro, i find you to be sane enough when talking about batting. How can you even say Misbah bat at no.3?

Your opening spot is given to batters that can see off the new ball and play with muscle memory. Your no.3 batter is the guy who has good footwork and can play the new ball but with foot work. THese guys dont get the opening spot as its too risky especially your good footwork can led you to edging it back.

Younis was a terrible odi batter.

Misbah was always suited for lower order batting and middle order batting.

I can you definitely play club cricket if you know the differences lol.

I didn't know this, thanks for the info.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I would argue in the 90s and 2000s Pakistan were ahead of the curve.

We had Afridi opening and were stacked were all-rounders which meant Pakistan had a very deep batting line-up. After the 2015 World Cup, England adopted the same approach with their batting line-up. At one point I remember they had Adil Rashid at number 11.

Pakistan went backwards after the 2007 World Cup.

Yeah thats quite fair actually...but overall it was still the allrounders that got moved around. Perhaps because they had another skill and werent scared of being thrown out if they failed.

I always seem to remember Pakistanis being quite rigid about batting positions and moaning about being played out of position.

 

[Mamoon]

Bro, i find you to be sane enough when talking about batting. How can you even say Misbah bat at no.3?

Your opening spot is given to batters that can see off the new ball and play with muscle memory. Your no.3 batter is the guy who has good footwork and can play the new ball but with foot work. THese guys dont get the opening spot as its too risky especially your good footwork can led you to edging it back.

Younis was a terrible odi batter.

Misbah was always suited for lower order batting and middle order batting.

This doesn’t apply to ODI cricket and it hasn’t been applicable to ODI cricket since the transition from red ball to white ball.

Makeshift openers have always been successful in this format even from the mid 90’s. With your thought process, Sri Lanka would have never opened the batting with Jayasuriya in the 1996 World Cup and they wouldn’t have won the World Cup.

Tendulkar was also not a traditional opener which is why he never opened in Test cricket but he is the greatest ODI opener ever.

Yousuf with his ability to play the ball late, with his timing and his ability to work the gaps and rotate the strike would have been a successful ODI opener especially at a time when Pakistan was struggling badly to find an ODI opener.

Misbah with his defense and concentration would have been the ideal anchor at 3 who could also accelerate and go for big shots especially again spin.

There is no doubt that he would have scored several ODI hundreds if he batted at 3 because it would allow him time to settle into his innings and accelerate later.

One of the major reasons why he failed to score a single ODI hundred was because he would run out of time to accelerate. He always needed 30-40 deliveries to get going and by then it is too late for a middle-order batsman to score big.

Younis was not a terrible ODI batsman. He was terrible up the order because he was a very nervous starter. Younis, even in Tests, was all over the place in the first 20-25 balls of his innings. Once he survived that period he would become very confident and was able to impose himself on the opposition.

He was a bad option up the order in ODIs because this 20-25 ball period would usually prove to be his undoing. In Tests, he could afford to score 4-5 runs his first 20 odd balls but in ODIs, he was under pressure to score quickly.

Younis was a successful ODI batsman in the first few years of his career because he was batting at number 6 and he was able to use his feet against the spinners and the pacers with an old ball that didn’t swing and seam.

Even in Tests, he was much more comfortable coming to the crease with the openers and number 3 establishing a platform as opposed to starting his innings against the new ball.

Younis in ODIs at number 6 averaged 42 at a SR of 91 in the mid 2000s. Those are phenomenal numbers and that version of Younis was superior to any version of Misbah in ODIs.

His ODI career was destroyed by Inzamam and Woolmer who decided to promote him to number 3 in 2006 after he turned his Test career around and became one of the most prolific number 3s in Test cricket in the world.

They decided to flog a running horse and he was never able to get his batting together at 3 in ODIs. He should have never batted above 4-5 in the ODI format.

 

[Sidilicious]

Nope, would never have Misbah over Inzi at any point of their career. And if you do, then you can’t read cricket.

Have a lot of respect for Misbah and his personality, but he is not in the same tier as Inzi as a batsman.

 

[Major]

This doesn’t apply to ODI cricket and it hasn’t been applicable to ODI cricket since the transition from red ball to white ball.

Makeshift openers have always been successful in this format even from the mid 90’s. With your thought process, Sri Lanka would have never opened the batting with Jayasuriya in the 1996 World Cup and they wouldn’t have won the World Cup.

Tendulkar was also not a traditional opener which is why he never opened in Test cricket but he is the greatest ODI opener ever.

Yousuf with his ability to play the ball late, with his timing and his ability to work the gaps and rotate the strike would have been a successful ODI opener especially at a time when Pakistan was struggling badly to find an ODI opener.

Misbah with his defense and concentration would have been the ideal anchor at 3 who could also accelerate and go for big shots especially again spin.

There is no doubt that he would have scored several ODI hundreds if he batted at 3 because it would allow him time to settle into his innings and accelerate later.

One of the major reasons why he failed to score a single ODI hundred was because he would run out of time to accelerate. He always needed 30-40 deliveries to get going and by then it is too late for a middle-order batsman to score big.

Younis was not a terrible ODI batsman. He was terrible up the order because he was a very nervous starter. Younis, even in Tests, was all over the place in the first 20-25 balls of his innings. Once he survived that period he would become very confident and was able to impose himself on the opposition.

He was a bad option up the order in ODIs because this 20-25 ball period would usually prove to be his undoing. In Tests, he could afford to score 4-5 runs his first 20 odd balls but in ODIs, he was under pressure to score quickly.

Younis was a successful ODI batsman in the first few years of his career because he was batting at number 6 and he was able to use his feet against the spinners and the pacers with an old ball that didn’t swing and seam.

Even in Tests, he was much more comfortable coming to the crease with the openers and number 3 establishing a platform as opposed to starting his innings against the new ball.

Younis in ODIs at number 6 averaged 42 at a SR of 91 in the mid 2000s. Those are phenomenal numbers and that version of Younis was superior to any version of Misbah in ODIs.

His ODI career was destroyed by Inzamam and Woolmer who decided to promote him to number 3 in 2006 after he turned his Test career around and became one of the most prolific number 3s in Test cricket in the world.

They decided to flog a running horse and he was never able to get his batting together at 3 in ODIs. He should have never batted above 4-5 in the ODI format.

Misbah would had not survived at no.3.

Remember during test games, Misbah would not be able to survive the next day morning session if he was batting overnight. He used to get out due to the swing and seam movement.

Misbah was a great player off the backfoot and knew how to play spinners.

By making Misbah bat in the upper order, he would had not been able to score that easily, especially post 2011.

Younis was the most garbage player in odi cricket ever. Younis was never superior to Misbah in odis.

 

[TheSultan]

No sane person would ever have Misbah ahead of Inzi

 

[topspin]

Bro, i find you to be sane enough when talking about batting. How can you even say Misbah bat at no.3?

Your opening spot is given to batters that can see off the new ball and play with muscle memory. Your no.3 batter is the guy who has good footwork and can play the new ball but with foot work. THese guys dont get the opening spot as its too risky especially your good footwork can led you to edging it back.

Younis was a terrible odi batter.

Misbah was always suited for lower order batting and middle order batting.

You started watching cricket in the 2010s. I started watching the game in 2000 so you never saw Younis Khan at his white ball peak. This is the reason why you believe Misbah to be a superior white ball to both Inzi and Younis Khan.

Younis Khan played a number of match winning innings in white ball cricket for Pakistan whereas Misbah couldn't even score a hundred let alone win a match for Pakistan in limited overs cricket.

If you think Younis was a terrible white ball player, check out his stats for the 2009 WT20. It's also pertinent to mention that his captaincy was instrumental to Pakistan's first ICC white ball trophy since the 1992 World Cup.

Misbah's ODI career can be defined by his 0 x tons and 1 win against major teams in ICC tournaments as captain. That's the definition of terrible.

 

[topspin]

This doesn’t apply to ODI cricket and it hasn’t been applicable to ODI cricket since the transition from red ball to white ball.

Makeshift openers have always been successful in this format even from the mid 90’s. With your thought process, Sri Lanka would have never opened the batting with Jayasuriya in the 1996 World Cup and they wouldn’t have won the World Cup.

Tendulkar was also not a traditional opener which is why he never opened in Test cricket but he is the greatest ODI opener ever.

Yousuf with his ability to play the ball late, with his timing and his ability to work the gaps and rotate the strike would have been a successful ODI opener especially at a time when Pakistan was struggling badly to find an ODI opener.

Misbah with his defense and concentration would have been the ideal anchor at 3 who could also accelerate and go for big shots especially again spin.

There is no doubt that he would have scored several ODI hundreds if he batted at 3 because it would allow him time to settle into his innings and accelerate later.

One of the major reasons why he failed to score a single ODI hundred was because he would run out of time to accelerate. He always needed 30-40 deliveries to get going and by then it is too late for a middle-order batsman to score big.

Younis was not a terrible ODI batsman. He was terrible up the order because he was a very nervous starter. Younis, even in Tests, was all over the place in the first 20-25 balls of his innings. Once he survived that period he would become very confident and was able to impose himself on the opposition.

He was a bad option up the order in ODIs because this 20-25 ball period would usually prove to be his undoing. In Tests, he could afford to score 4-5 runs his first 20 odd balls but in ODIs, he was under pressure to score quickly.

Younis was a successful ODI batsman in the first few years of his career because he was batting at number 6 and he was able to use his feet against the spinners and the pacers with an old ball that didn’t swing and seam.

Even in Tests, he was much more comfortable coming to the crease with the openers and number 3 establishing a platform as opposed to starting his innings against the new ball.

Younis in ODIs at number 6 averaged 42 at a SR of 91 in the mid 2000s. Those are phenomenal numbers and that version of Younis was superior to any version of Misbah in ODIs.

His ODI career was destroyed by Inzamam and Woolmer who decided to promote him to number 3 in 2006 after he turned his Test career around and became one of the most prolific number 3s in Test cricket in the world.

They decided to flog a running horse and he was never able to get his batting together at 3 in ODIs. He should have never batted above 4-5 in the ODI format.

Excellent insight into Younis Khan's ODI career. He was mismanaged and shouldn't have batted at 3.

As you've said before, Major didn't watch cricket before 2010 so you can't expect him to appreciate how cricket was played before the 2010s era. The difference between the 2000s and 2010s in white ball cricket is night and day.

 

[hass]

If I could, I would gladly exchange our champions trophy win for the 2004 series v India.

Agreed with everything except this. Pakistan literally won the subsequent series in India and I believe did it again in 2013. No series win can displace a world ICC event.

 

[Mamoon]

Misbah would had not survived at no.3.

Remember during test games, Misbah would not be able to survive the next day morning session if he was batting overnight. He used to get out due to the swing and seam movement.

Misbah was a great player off the backfoot and knew how to play spinners.

By making Misbah bat in the upper order, he would had not been able to score that easily, especially post 2011.

Younis was the most garbage player in odi cricket ever. Younis was never superior to Misbah in odis.

You are doing Misbah disservice by claiming that he would not have survived at number 3. His game was built for number 3 in ODIs in the 2000s and early 2010s before the two new balls were introduced and scoring rates sky rocketed.

He knew how to survive and see off difficult phases. That was his strength. His knock in the 2013 Champions Trophy against WI was a glimpse of how effective he could have been at that position.

He came to the crease in the 5th over with Roach and Rampaul swinging and seaming the ball in overcast conditions with plenty of grass on the wicket and he batted through the innings.

He kept batting at 5 when he was not good enough for that position because he couldn’t rotate the strike and by the time he would accelerate to catch up, it was too late.

For example, his 56 in 76 in the Mohali semifinal at 5 was utterly useless like most of his ODI innings but that 56 in 76 at 3 could have been converted into a 106 in 116 at number 3 and that could have won Pakistan the match.

At number 5/6, you need batsmen who can improvise and rotate the strike. Misbah couldn’t do that against any type of bowling in any conditions while Younis could play that role effectively as long as he wasn’t starting his innings against pacers with a new ball.

Younis was far from a terrible ODI batsman. If you had watched him in the 2000s at 6 you would have realized that. However, there is no doubt that he was awful at 3.

42 @91 at 6 and career stats of 31 @75 show how bad he was at 3. Practically a tailender.

Inzamam and Woolmer are to be blamed but Imran Khan also did a lot of propaganda for Younis to bat 3. He worked as an analyst for Ten Sports in 2005-06 and he kept insisting that Younis should bat at 3 in ODIs and it made the headlines in newspapers as well.

PCB ultimately succumbed to the pressure because it is blasphemy to disagree with Imran even when he is talking nonsense. He also insisted on Younis batting at 3 in the 2015 World Cup which showed how out of touch with reality he really is.

He stopped watching cricket in 1992 but people still take his word as gospel even though he knows nothing about what is currently happening in the game.

 

[Major]

You are doing Misbah disservice by claiming that he would not have survived at number 3. His game was built for number 3 in ODIs in the 2000s and early 2010s before the two new balls were introduced and scoring rates sky rocketed.

He knew how to survive and see off difficult phases. That was his strength. His knock in the 2013 Champions Trophy against WI was a glimpse of how effective he could have been at that position.

He came to the crease in the 5th over with Roach and Rampaul swinging and seaming the ball in overcast conditions with plenty of grass on the wicket and he batted through the innings.

He kept batting at 5 when he was not good enough for that position because he couldn’t rotate the strike and by the time he would accelerate to catch up, it was too late.

For example, his 56 in 76 in the Mohali semifinal at 5 was utterly useless like most of his ODI innings but that 56 in 76 at 3 could have been converted into a 106 in 116 at number 3 and that could have won Pakistan the match.

At number 5/6, you need batsmen who can improvise and rotate the strike. Misbah couldn’t do that against any type of bowling in any conditions while Younis could play that role effectively as long as he wasn’t starting his innings against pacers with a new ball.

Younis was far from a terrible ODI batsman. If you had watched him in the 2000s at 6 you would have realized that. However, there is no doubt that he was awful at 3.

42 @91 at 6 and career stats of 31 @75 show how bad he was at 3. Practically a tailender.

Inzamam and Woolmer are to be blamed but Imran Khan also did a lot of propaganda for Younis to bat 3. He worked as an analyst for Ten Sports in 2005-06 and he kept insisting that Younis should bat at 3 in ODIs and it made the headlines in newspapers as well.

PCB ultimately succumbed to the pressure because it is blasphemy to disagree with Imran even when he is talking nonsense. He also insisted on Younis batting at 3 in the 2015 World Cup which showed how out of touch with reality he really is.

He stopped watching cricket in 1992 but people still take his word as gospel even though he knows nothing about what is currently happening in the game.

His batting wasn't made for no.3 cause he was never good against the new ball. If he came earlier, he always had to play out the ball to make the shine ineffective. The West Indies game, he did exactly that to counter attack West Indies. He first played off the new ball and almost got out too.


This strategy would not have worked for him. He was an ideal lower order and than a middle order batter. Misbah rotated strike well, especially against spinners. Misbah used to toy with spinners by playing reverse and ramps so mess their line and length.

Misbah's weakness against new ball or morning session is evident in his test games whenever he has to bat the next day.

As for Younis, guy was over rated. Great test player but in odis he had no clue no matter what spot he would bat. He was at one point batting at no.4 aswell when asad shafiq was bought in i think

 

[Mamoon]

His batting wasn't made for no.3 cause he was never good against the new ball. If he came earlier, he always had to play out the ball to make the shine ineffective. The West Indies game, he did exactly that to counter attack West Indies. He first played off the new ball and almost got out too.


This strategy would not have worked for him. He was an ideal lower order and than a middle order batter. Misbah rotated strike well, especially against spinners. Misbah used to toy with spinners by playing reverse and ramps so mess their line and length.

Misbah's weakness against new ball or morning session is evident in his test games whenever he has to bat the next day.

As for Younis, guy was over rated. Great test player but in odis he had no clue no matter what spot he would bat. He was at one point batting at no.4 aswell when asad shafiq was bought in i think

If Misbah was an ideal middle/lower-order ODI batsman, he wouldn’t be maintaining a SR of 65-70 most of the time.

His strike rotation was extremely bad. It was easily his biggest shortcoming as a batsman. He had almost everything else in his locker as a batsman but he couldn’t minimize his dot ball percentage which had massive negative implications on the team.

His supporters defended him by claiming that he had no choice because the batting was paper thin but you can also rotate the strike by playing risk-free cricket. Misbah didn’t have the skill to work the ball around.

A lot of those dots could have been worked around for singles and doubles but he lacked that finesse as a batsman.

Younis might be overrated a touch and I would always Yousuf over him in all formats but there is no doubt that he was a much superior batsman than Misbah.

Misbah was nowhere near Inzamam, Yousuf and Younis in any format.

 

[Major]

If Misbah was an ideal middle/lower-order ODI batsman, he wouldn’t be maintaining a SR of 65-70 most of the time.

His strike rotation was extremely bad. It was easily his biggest shortcoming as a batsman. He had almost everything else in his locker as a batsman but he couldn’t minimize his dot ball percentage which had massive negative implications on the team.

His supporters defended him by claiming that he had no choice because the batting was paper thin but you can also rotate the strike by playing risk-free cricket. Misbah didn’t have the skill to work the ball around.

A lot of those dots could have been worked around for singles and doubles but he lacked that finesse as a batsman.

Younis might be overrated a touch and I would always Yousuf over him in all formats but there is no doubt that he was a much superior batsman than Misbah.

Misbah was nowhere near Inzamam, Yousuf and Younis in any format.

why couldn't Inzi do anything in icc tournaments bar the 1992 semi final?

The 2007 world cup campaign was a big joke because these guys couldn't handle the pressure of icc tournaments.

 

[topspin]

Misbah was nowhere near Inzamam, Yousuf and Younis in any format.

Spot on and I know you weren't the biggest fan of Younis as a person, so unlike some, credit to you for not letting your judgement be clouded by bias.

 

[VForVendetta]

You are doing Misbah disservice by claiming that he would not have survived at number 3. His game was built for number 3 in ODIs in the 2000s and early 2010s before the two new balls were introduced and scoring rates sky rocketed.

He knew how to survive and see off difficult phases. That was his strength. His knock in the 2013 Champions Trophy against WI was a glimpse of how effective he could have been at that position.

He came to the crease in the 5th over with Roach and Rampaul swinging and seaming the ball in overcast conditions with plenty of grass on the wicket and he batted through the innings.

He kept batting at 5 when he was not good enough for that position because he couldn’t rotate the strike and by the time he would accelerate to catch up, it was too late.

For example, his 56 in 76 in the Mohali semifinal at 5 was utterly useless like most of his ODI innings but that 56 in 76 at 3 could have been converted into a 106 in 116 at number 3 and that could have won Pakistan the match.

At number 5/6, you need batsmen who can improvise and rotate the strike. Misbah couldn’t do that against any type of bowling in any conditions while Younis could play that role effectively as long as he wasn’t starting his innings against pacers with a new ball.

Younis was far from a terrible ODI batsman. If you had watched him in the 2000s at 6 you would have realized that. However, there is no doubt that he was awful at 3.

42 @91 at 6 and career stats of 31 @75 show how bad he was at 3. Practically a tailender.

Inzamam and Woolmer are to be blamed but Imran Khan also did a lot of propaganda for Younis to bat 3. He worked as an analyst for Ten Sports in 2005-06 and he kept insisting that Younis should bat at 3 in ODIs and it made the headlines in newspapers as well.

PCB ultimately succumbed to the pressure because it is blasphemy to disagree with Imran even when he is talking nonsense. He also insisted on Younis batting at 3 in the 2015 World Cup which showed how out of touch with reality he really is.

He stopped watching cricket in 1992 but people still take his word as gospel even though he knows nothing about what is currently happening in the game.

It's true, Imran is the one who advocated Younus for the number 3 spot after the unexpected success in the 05 India test series. He also put pressure on Inzy & Pak management regarding Kaneria, claiming how they were missing a trick by not playing an "aggressive wicket taking leg spinner " in odi's. Even as a teenager I was astonished how Imran could be such delusional. The bottomline is he much like most subcontinent greats aren't exactly the best analysts of the game. They either don't follow regularly or simply way too rigid to moderate their thought process.

 

[Mamoon]

why couldn't Inzi do anything in icc tournaments bar the 1992 semi final?

The 2007 world cup campaign was a big joke because these guys couldn't handle the pressure of icc tournaments.

He should have. He wasn’t too bad in 1999 and played a match-winning innings against Australia but 2003 and 2007 were major disappointments.

He lost a lot of weight before the 2003 World Cup on the insistence of Richard Pybus that proved to be disastrous.

Nonetheless, the innings in the 1992 semifinal remains the best ever ODI innings by a Pakistani batsman and bigger than Misbah’s entire ODI career.

 

[shehwar]

No comparison here. Inzamam is an all time great. Even today I would imagine he would rank pretty high on that list of playing match winning knocks. Runs that actually mattered and he was specially unbelievable whilst chasing. For a long period he was arguably the best batsman in the world of his time. Misbah is a decent player. It’s like comparing Sachin Tendulkar to Sanjay Manjarekar.

 

[gazza619]

Inzi has ruined his legacy by his post retirement Shenanigans. Misbah was handy during a period when the team was beyond pathetic.