Misbahul Haq: Will Pakistan's unsung hero be able to lead us against South Africa?

Misbah stands tall but he stands alone as the unsung hero of Pakistani cricket. But will he surrender like Afridi? No!

Pakistan is due to take South Africa on in a highly anticipated combat on UAE soil with an aim to mend their fences this time. The hopes for this would have been much higher they had whitewashed a comparatively weaker opponent that was on the verge of crumbling before it somehow managed to thrash Pakistan severely.

Yup, I am talking about Zimbabwe.

But that is all done and dusted, and yet we blame Misbahul Haq... God knows why.

When we can keep the captain of the team in the limelight it is unfair to snub the people in the background of the show too.

Taking a look at the team now, there are some things that just go beyond my understanding. For one, it is hard to believe why a foreigner is being paid a package of about Rs1.6 million for merely sitting in front of a laptop and teaching his ‘students’ primary cricketing skills? Why now? Shouldn’t these skills have been at 95% already, considering this is the final selection of the team that will be representing us internationally?

Secondly, why would you consider changing a skipper, who is in the world top 10 ranking and one of the highest run-getters of this year and has been winning consecutive Test series against strong and mixed talented opponents?

Yes, Misbah may not be the apple of every eye but in recent times, it has started to feel more like the hidden agenda of certain ‘senior players’, ‘acting commentators’ and ‘public speakers’ to push him down.

Misbah is, by far, the only solid, reliable player left on the team who is able to actually score; albeit slow, but he is steady. In the event that you don’t want him to play slow or if you want him to play like Gayle, try giving him confidence that the bottom line will not pack its bags and get ready to leave as soon as he walks off the pitch. Maybe that will help him score better and be a more aggressive player.

Unfortunately, it is this reassurance that we fail to provide him with and he knows this well enough. Misbah knows that he is the only one who manages to survive over to over.  So even in a 50 over format, he tries to strengthen his partnerships with each player and yet makes way for the other ‘so called superstars’ to come and shine but all he gets in return is discouragement.

Ironically, at the end of the evening, the loss is written against his name, rather than the player who scored a duck. At the end of a match, even social media warriors and TV anchors leave no stone unturned to make sure he is criticised and ‘his’ loss is highlighted ruthlessly.

Of course the team must have played exceptionally well, it was just Misbah’s fault that he continued to keep the team safe throughout the match. So, it is his loss.

Putting, a fairly brilliant player, down is a huge injustice to the talent of the man and the team. At the end of the day, we were the ones who white washed England and it was Misbah who stood tall and kept scoring without any expectations of a shampoo advertisement contract or drink commercial.

We were, without a doubt, thrashed during our Zimbabwe tour but might I remind you that Pakistan’s Test ranking was nowhere close to where it is today and it is no thanks to Afridi.

Afridi abandoned the team after leading the side just for one match and leaving it immediately after an embarrassing defeat. His exit proved that he was not a man who could be relied upon. The team had barely recovered from the match-fixing scandal, and their captain leaving them high and dry only dampened the spirit of the team further.

That was probably the worst time in Pakistani cricketing history but Misbah did not falter, he took charge even when all he had was a team with low morale and was on the verge of a breakdown.

With good reason, Misbah has been retained as leading man to encounter one of the most lethal oppositions in modern day cricket. Regardless of the fact that the pitch is in the UAE; Daryl Steyn and the rest of the team may be good, but the one thing we know for sure is that Misbah is going to be out there and he is going to give it his all.

He stands tall but he stands alone, the unsung hero of Pakistani cricket but he will not surrender, he will not give up; he is Misbahul Haq, Captain of the Pakistani cricket team.