Yes, we need Misbah!
Since January 1, 2011 Misbah has played 51 ODIs and scored 1498 runs with a brilliant average of 45.39. PHOTO: REUTERS
Not surprisingly, Misbah’s bad form with the bat in past three ODIs against India has yet again given a chance to his critics to call for his head.
For example, this blog, published in The Express Tribune, harshly criticises Misbahul Haq, and suggests dropping him from ODI team.
The criticism in this the aforementioned blog, however, appears to be superficial, because the author has not presented any concrete facts, statistics and figures and merely takes into account the series against India to evaluate Misbah’s spot in the middle order.
Surely, a player should not be dropped based on his performance in the last three matches alone, right?
It is important to take a closer look at Pakistan’s struggling middle order batting in ODIs over the past two years, and let us compare Misbah’s batting performance with his colleagues to get a better idea of the situation.
Since January 1, 2011 Misbah has played 51 ODIs and scored 1498 runs with a brilliant average of 45.39. During the same period, here are the stats of other middle order batsmen who are still in current ODI team (minimum 10 matches).
Azhar Ali - 452 runs at 41.09 in 14 ODIs
Younis Khan - 985 runs at 29.84 in 41 ODIs
Umar Akmal - 1217 runs at 38.03 in 47 ODIs
Asad Shafiq - 694 runs at 33.04 in 25 ODIs
Shoaib Malik – 128 runs at 12.80 in 14 ODIs
Misbah is comfortably the leading run scorer with the highest batting average; moreover, most of these runs were scored by him with the added responsibility and pressure of being the captain of the side.
During this period, he has been instrumental in significant number of victories. In 32 wins since 1st Jan 2011, his average is 61.17. This underlines his contributions with the bat. Add to that, his ability to masterfully utilise the resources at his disposal in the field, and we will probably be able to see his true value.
Let us look at the contribution of other batsmen with the same criteria,
Azhar Ali – averages 28.00
Younis Khan – averages 38.59
Umar Akmal – averages 47.43
Asad Shafiq – averages 32.90
Shoaib Malik – averages 13.28
The above figures clearly show that Misbah has been leading contributor in the matches which we have won over the past two years.
Admittedly, he has scored runs slower, but this is the role that he has defined for himself in the team. He is no Shahid Afridi or Sehwag who will give you more than a run per ball. His role is to prevent the usual Pakistani collapse by holding up one end and it is the other player’s responsibility to bat around him and help him out in tough situations.
Matches are not won by a single player always.
Had that been the case, India and West Indies would have been hugely successful ODI sides in the presence of Tendulkar and Lara respectively.
He is not a Michael Beven or a Steve Waugh; Misbah has had his share of bad performances, but he is still the best we have as shown by the above statistics. If you take away his performances and substitute it with another mediocre set of performances you might see the overall performance of our middle order dip considerably.
It is true that he looks ugly when he gets into that block-block rut, but every batsman has his weaknesses which can be worked on by talking to the coach and altering the game plan, which he should be able to do in forthcoming matches.
A more worrying thing for the team management (and fans) should be the dearth of skilful young batsmen in the middle order. Not even one young Pakistani middle order batsman has impressed the world during past two years as far as ODIs are concerned.
Umar Akmal is talented, but keeps throwing away his wicket at crucial moments (even after having a fair experience of 71 matches); Asad Shafiq has not done anything notable in past two years in ODIs; Younis Khan has been below par; Azhar Ali looks promising, but it is too early to predict his future in ODIs.
All these batsmen have been given fair chances during this time and none of them has been consistent enough. Yet, all the so called critics find a way to criticise Misbah and that’s it! They only blame him for all the ills of Pakistan’s middle order batting.
It is true that we need to build a team for 2015 World Cup, but in my humble opinion Misbah should not call it a day – not yet anyway. He should keep leading the team at least till the Champions Trophy this year, while selectors keep looking for reliable middle order batsmen.
Youngsters in the team can still benefit from his calm leadership and overall experience.
Read more by Raja here or follow him on Twitter @ghulamrasool1
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of The Express Tribune.
Missy should stay….his tuck tuckness is frustrating, but his calmness in the team is an asset i do not think hafeez is ready for full time.odi and test captaincyRecommend
absolutely agreed !!Recommend
Its funny how you criticized Umer Akmal for throwing his wicket, but no words on Misbah’s lack of strike rotation. BIASED ARTICLERecommend
I can’t express how glad I am to see this article. So many people on cricinfo, who do not belong to Pakistan, praise Misbah and wonder why we do not appreciate him. Pakistanis will only see his value when he has retired. We as a nation deserve every misfortune that befalls us, We think Umar Akmal should go to South Africa (God Forbid!) and ask for Misbah’s head. But Insha Allah, this tour to South Africa shall prove that Azhar, Misbah, Younis and Asad are the real deal! I for one dread the day when Misbah will have to retire, the one man in all of Pakistan who can even make Umar Akmal behave as long as he is at the other end of the crease.Recommend
Misbah is a wonder,i often wonder what beast would he have been had he come some years early,when he was youngRecommend
Agreed. Misbah is actually anchor batsman.Recommend
I am in Misbah’s favour.. the kind of captain Pakistan team needs!Recommend
Thank u Raja sb. I had been convincing others in the comments section of that blog too.You have exactly represented views of sane cricket lovers!Recommend
Long Live Misbah; long live Mibah-ism.
In the time of great horror in every field in Pakistan, he is the real gem. We are proud for what he has done for Pakistani cricket.Recommend
“Matches are not won by a single player always”
but matches are lost by a single player’s mistake n he has done it many times,
apart from statistics (in which you totally ignored his runrate) therez one thing called batting technique/skill which misbah is totally unaware of,
the way he handled rather he was handled by kumar n ashwin in the recent ODIs was ……
i dont hav any issues with his captaincy , hes a good captain with a brilliant record but a captain has to justify his place in the playing 11, its a basic thing plus just because of his permanent place ,newcomers lyk umer ,azhar n shafique are not getting regular chances,
if its all about your batting average then y not to have FAWAD ALAM in playing 11Recommend
you got it wrong buddy! Misbah is very clever guy, scores 30 or 40 odd runs just to save his skin, and eventually got out. The problem is that he seems to play for himself, never seen him playing according to the situation, I admit that he is not a natural stroke maker, but he never tries to rotate the strike and very lazy in running between the wickets. A good player is the one who plays according to the match situation, that Misbah certainly NOT!Recommend
I think you have some serious weight in your arguments. However, i would be interested too see figures from January 2012 onwards. Misbah’s age is going downhill so his performance should be srutnized from that perspective as well.Recommend
Very well put together bro. If only Misbah can learn to rotate strike, he can be one of all time best captains we have had! Also, I think there should be some sort of warning for Misbah at least, that he needs to improve on this aspect by certain time. This will keep him his toes and will give a message to the team that no player should take his position in team for granted, no matter how senior he is.Recommend
Very good article with facts! being a fan of pakistan cricket and not just its cricketers i like to keep away from all bias and lobbies created by fans of various cricketers that sadly pounce on other cricketers from the SAME team just to try and make their player from the SAME team seem better, the unity is lacking!
Misbah is a great player and apart from a couple of matches where might have played against what was required, the rest of his 100 plus matches he has been the rock of pkaistan team and should be commended for it. All the hate for misbah stems from the final loss against india in 07 T20 WC where people dont realize that he was the only batsmen standing and who brought pakistan back into the game. Had he too just given his wicket away pakistan would have lost with a big margin and no one would have picked on him that much but he tried his best.
Great cricketer and a great human being from what iv seen by keeping himself away from all media and other issues and just concentrating on cricket!Recommend
MR FACT here can you please also add his strike rate and the amount of pressure he added to the team, causing the required run rate to reach beyond what we are capable of, Causing other player to be left with not option but to hit, hence loosing there wicket.
One important thing to point out is to take a the World Cup Semi Finals Match:
Sure Misbah scored 56 off of 76 Balls. Even 20 excess balls is a lot at Strike rate of 73.68, but its somewhat acceptable. But untill the 42nd over his first 26 runs came at 51 balls. Strike rate of 51.00. By then Pakistan had lost 7 wicket; credit for which easily went to Misbah. His slow progress n failure to rotate the strike saw the req’d run rate climb to almost 10 an over. with 93 needed from 11 overs. Had the progress been a steady one from before that game would’ve been ours for the taken.
Sure at the end 56 off 76 is not a bad score, but the score card does not tell u the tale of how it got there.Recommend
Pakistanis need emotional drama. A rock, steady, calm, calculative, productive, efficient, honest leader they don’t want.
What they really need is
Misbah
Azhar
IKRecommend
Misbah’s calmness and unemotional demeanor is one of the best thing that has happened to Pakistan in recent times.Recommend
Absolutely true and not biased in my sincerest opinion. I am also glad to see that there are still sane voices amid all chaos and that I am not alone. The only fact that Pakistan won the recent ODI series, and even if we ignore England white wash, demands that the whole nation should apologies the National Hero on his character assassination. Such attitudes only show that we deserve players like Shahid Afridi. Here I would also like to mention the role of our TV commentators and analysts, especially that of Ramiz Raja, who don’t leave a signal opportunity to defame Pakistani senior batsmen. The way Ramiz defamed players like Inzimam, Yousuf, and then Misbah is deplorable which is shameful given his influence on Pakistani audience. Mention of a TV channel may bring editorial sensors on my comments. Now they are after Azhar Ali. IMO, they should instead learn a lesson from Indian commentators especially Ravi Shastri.Recommend
Brilliant.. People may argue about his strike rate but as clearly mentioned, he is no Sehwag or Gayle but he is playing the role, he is supposed to..Recommend
We should not forget the fact that his extremely low strike rate in almost every match creates pressure on the rest of the team,result;in strive of scoring runs in pressure situation (when run rate is hiting very low just because of the fact that misbah is not scoring runs)they throw away there wickets.To be simple: Misbah khud to dubta hi hai baqiyun ko be dobo deta hai!Recommend
@Ejaz: can you please bring some numbers in support of your argument. My friend this is cricketRecommend
@sherrry: Fowad Alam!!! Are you out of your mind! ”
Misbah! you will be Missed!Recommend
The way Misbah captained in India shows his true class.Recommend
Good stuff Ghulam Rasool. You have provided some interesting statistics and no one can argue against the fact that Misbah has done extremely well in leading the team over the past 2.5 years.
However, my blog, which you have pointed out in the beginning, was not really about the last 3 games, but actually the entire last year. 2012 was a very poor year for Pakistan in ODIs.
Yes it is true that Misbah has a brilliant record as captain in ODIs – 21 wins and only 12 losses. However, 10 of those 12 losses came in 2012, and during the year Pakistan won only 7 ODIs.
That shows the dip in performance of Pakistan’s ODI team, which in my opinion was due to two key factors – 1. the major dip in form of Pakistan’s biggest match winner, Shahid Afridi. 2. Pakistan’s below par middle order.
You also pointed out Misbah’s super performance with the bat since 1st Jan 2011.. But in 2012 his performance took a major dip – 493 runs in 18 innings at an average of 37.9. Other middle order batsmen during the year 2012:
Azhar Ali – 411 runs in 12 innings at an average of 45.67
Asad Shafiq – 267 runs in 11 innings at an average of 26.70
Umar Akmal – 407 runs in 14 innings at an average of 33.91
The dip in performance of Misbah in 2012 is quite apparent.. plus other middle order batsmen like Azhar Ali have done better.
Moreover batsmen like Haris Sohail are pressing for inclusion in the XI based on their good domestic performances.
The largest reason why I pointed out that Misbah needs to go is because of the pedestrian middle order we have – Azhar, Younis, and Misbah should not be playing in the same ODI XI. You cant take Azhar out because you need to groom him for the future. Taking both Younis and Misbah out at the same time is also suicidal as it leaves no experience. So in my opinion Misbah should go first and in time Younis too.
As long as Azhar, Misbah and YK keep plying ODIs together, Pakistan will continue to lose more than they win.Recommend
@Saria:
read that againRecommend
It is difficult to measure the misfortune of the people of Pakistan; on the one hand, we are worried for out batting line sustainability, while on the other hand we are always blaming Misbah for everything. It is indeed very unfair stance from our nation. despite the fact of winning series against India but still they were angry on misbah’s performance in the last ODI played at Feroz Shah Kotal New Dehli. We do need someone who can play 50 overs in the game; one can never hit hit 4 or 6 of every ball, but should stay and play cricket on the merit. Misbah batting average in tests and ODI is 45.68, 41.24 respectively, while Strike rates are 41.15 and 73.54 which is acceptable for a middle order batsman. Since great Inzi has gone out of the cricket; we are unable to replace him with some share mature talent, but its only Misbah who has always leaded team up front and the highest percentage of winning series in the history of Pakistan. I think we shall understand the game of cricket with facts, but emotions are in our nature as Pakistani nation and hence we move in wrong directions. I have not seen any international player who has hit 4 and 6 on every ball, its something making castle in the air. The nature of the player should have been understand everytime, many midle orders players have played slow batting but on merit as well. The last ODI performance is the best example; our batting is concern, we have hardly win matches on good batting, it is our bowling attack that release some pressure from batting by restricting opposition to low totals of scores. We as nation love cricket at steam, but those who understand the nature and scope of cricket are in minorities. Which is sad end of the story.Recommend
Msbah we don’t need him we really don’t and we don’t want to be jinxed any more.Recommend
Misbah is the man for Pakistan Cricket…The day Misbah will retire from ODI cricket, our team will struggle to bat even 50 Overs …But this nation does not deserve an Honest , Loyal and Hard working Batsmen and Captain Like Misbah . They Needs a reckless , irresponsible Basher like Shahid Afridi who would win them 1 out 10 matches and they will call him “MATCH WINNER” … respect MISBAH UL HAQ for what he has achieved as CaptainRecommend
@Q: If a batsman has an average of 37.9 in a bad year then you must recheck your stance. Got it?Recommend
@cricket – Misbah’s average cant be looked at in isolation. The larger problem in the current scenario is the presence of Azhar Ali, YK, and Misbah in the same ODI middle order. This needs to be resolved asap. And in my opinion, the first step in this solution is to ask Misbah to leave. The second step is to phase out YK in the next 6-8 months..Recommend
@Q: Ok, don’t readjust your stance. You’re LBW plumb! Take a review:
.
You wrote in an above comment:
.
“But in 2012 his performance took a major dip – 493 runs in 18 innings at an average of 37.9.”
& based on this you further wrote
“The dip in performance of Misbah in 2012 is quite apparent”
.
Regardless of whether Misbah deserves a seat, do you still think that average of 37.9 is a major dip? Your own words. Now you are saying that it should not be taken in isolation! .
.
Result: “No bat involved, it was a plumb LBW!”
.
Just to mention, career ODI average of Younus Khan is 32.79, around 5 runs per innings short of Misbah’s bad performance! Inzi’s was 39.2!
.
And yes, keep having a distorted perception based on your stats skills – or lack of it – and throw Misbah out of the team, please!
.
Lesson: “Improve your technique”Recommend
@cricket .. I asked for a DRS review and your decision of plumb LBW was overturned immediately. Why? Cos u obviously had difficulty in understanding what “major dip in performance” means…
I spoke of Misbah’s ave of 37 on 2012 only as a major dip compared to the average of 60+ that Mr. Rahim Gul mentioned in his post.
To answer your question, an average of 37 in ODIs is not bad at all. Compared to 60 odd it is significantly lower. Which is what I meant and you obviously missed.
Hence I’m still batting at the crease and still fighting for Misbah’s sacking from the ODI squad.Recommend
Oh forgot to mention Mr. Cricket.. lesson for you is to ‘improve your english’ and ‘analytical skills’Recommend
Dear Q,
I have a question. Who is Mr. Rahim Gul ? :)
BTW You and Mr. Cricket both are correct in your arguments.
Mr. Cricket has a valid point, the average of 38 is by no means a bad one. You are also right, that it has dipped a bit.
Admittedly, it may have dipped, but by what standards? By Misbah’s own high standards of 2011 right?, yet it remains much better compared to others. It is still good enough to demand and warrant a place in a middle order where others’ average in early 30′s or below 30′s or even below 20′s (in case of Younis and Shoaib Malik) deserve more scrutiny.
It does not matter if you change the filter to 1 year, 2 years or 3 years, you will always find Misbah as the leading run scorer with best (in last two years) or second-best behind Azhar Ali (in last year) average and this is a fact, now we can have different opinions based on this fact, you may think that Misbah should go first, while others may opine that Younis etc, should be sacked based on their pathetic performances.Recommend
Ghulam Rasool sahab, sorry about the mistake in calling you Rahim Gul.. I’m arguing on this topic on so many forums, that I addressed someone from elsewhere here. Apologies.
The stats will no doubt show what you mention, but at the same time we should also move away from them and assess the overall performance of the team in recent times. While we have continued to improve in tests and T20s, our ODI performance has continuously deteriorated. 2012 was a very bad year for Pakistan in ODIs.
We did redeem ourselves with the win over India, however our batting problems continued.
I would like to see Misbah and Younis both move on from ODIs this year. I actually wrote about taking YK out of the ODI team long before I wrote about Misbah. However, I also feel that both should not go at the same time as that may leave a big hole in the middle order.
YK was gone during the series against Australia, and I hoped it would remain like that for India but selectors got him back. Probably cos Asad Shafiq was injured.
When Shafiq is back one of YK or Misbah has to go.. cos I would rather play Azhar, Asad, U Akmal in the same team. They are the future and they r the ones who will be fighting for the WC in 2015.Recommend
Dear Qazi,
We have two things here. Facts and Opinions. I responded to your earlier comment in which you mentioned the facts and figures from last year. Now in your latest comment you suggest to move away from those particular figures. Fair enough.
Your last comment mostly contains your own opinion about who should be in the team and who should be dropped, I respect your opinion.
There can potentially be multiple solutions to single problem, let us see how it goes and what the selectors think.
Thanks for reading through and participating in the discussion. It was a healthy exchange of ideas :)Recommend
Phew..the blog flooded with comments already..Here is my stance
”
The core ability of a batsman is not to score “runs”, rather carry on with that momentum TILL THE SIDE GETS HOME”. Sticking to the crease with rare strike rotation, adding pressure to the non strikers to take some risk and ultimately falling down to that. This process is continous and would never gonna end till the side is eight/nine down or the run rate approaching to nearly impossible. And then we all know what gonna happen.. Be it T20 final with India, T20 match with England in Abu Dhabi, WC Semi final against India or 3rd ODI against India recently
How many times would you gonna see this inability brothers?? Ok lets take about the recent incident. The side cruising strongly in the third ODI against India till Misbah was there. 34 overs have been bowled, your side is three down and looking comfortable. Its was evident that after this over, we would have five overs of powerplay. Ashwin was bowling with leg gully to a batsman that has already been there and have faced more than 60 deliveries. A traditional off spinning delivery on the leg stump and Misbah giving a dolly to the slip. I mean do you called it a “Sane” attitude?? A simple trap and i suspect even a tail ender would never gonna do this.
An individual with SOME cricketing sense would never ever gonna agree to Misbah’s approach in cricket and others would keep coming up with strong stats to favor the batsman..Recommend
Lets talk about all important strike rate shall we? When a batsman gets in…for 30-40 balls it is their responsibility to finish the innings…plus being a captains bring added pressure…problem with Misbah has been he defends 4-5 balls in an over n then excepts the batsman at the other end to hit out on the 2 renaming balls of the over..any cricket follower would tell u if u can get a boundary early in the over…bowlers gets on the defensive…Misbah fails to do so consistently !Recommend
I think Misbah Ul Haq is doing really well as a captain. His cool, calm and considerate composure is truly ideal. Most of the captians, like Shahid Afridi, focus on being aggressive and getting runs faster but Misbah seems to be focussing on the balance of runs, wickets and overs. Anyhow whatever we say but this is a truth that Misbah deserves the extreme applaud and prasie for getting the team back on the winning track. Misbah is really a backbone of Pakistan side in todays cricket. ALLAH bless him always. ALLAH please have mercy on Misbah in this South African series as well. Aameen.Recommend
Oh boy!! God help Pakistan cricket if Misbah is to be the edifice on which the future of Pakistan is to constructed.Recommend