November 4, 1987 was perhaps one of the grimmest days in Pakistan cricket history. The Pakistan team was favourite to beat Australia in 1987 World Cup semi-final played in Lahore, but the 18-run defeat in that match stunned the whole nation.
Pakistan test team -
pushup to pushover?
November 4, 1987 was perhaps one of the grimmest days in Pakistan cricket history. The Pakistan team was favourite to beat Australia in 1987 World Cup semi-final played in Lahore, but the 18-run defeat in that match stunned the whole nation. On that day, the people of Pakistan felt a two-fold grief. Not only did they lose the crunch match, but they also lost arguably their best cricket leader (Imran Khan announced his retirement).
Immense gloom prevailed not only at the Gaddafi stadium, but also from Khyber to Karachi. But after only a couple of months, in January 1988, the head of state of the country, General Zia-ul-Haq, changed all that by asking Imran to reconsider his retirement and lead the team, which was about to embark on a tour to West Indies in a few months’ time.
Imran heeded his advice and his team drew one of the toughest series 1-1 there; won the Nehru Cup (six-nation tournament) in India in 1989, and in a few years’ time lifted the Waterford crystal trophy (World Cup) at the MCG in 1992.
Keeping this history in mind, how can one blame the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, Shahryar Khan for convincing Misbah to continue as the captain of Pakistan Test team? In one of his interviews he said: “Though Misbah is independent to decide about his future, the PCB has suggested him to continue till 2018.”
Well, perhaps the Chairman was just taking a leaf out of former President Zia-ul-Haq’s book. Though, the results in the recent tours to New Zealand and Australia have somewhat proven the Chairman wrong, but there is still another challenge to be faced in March, the West Indies tour, once touted as ‘the final frontier’.
One can understand that some of the former cricketers, who had ‘issues’ with Misbah all along, have become more vociferous after the recent Pakistan Vs Australia Test series, but even those sports anchors who not too long ago were singing praises, have suddenly found that Misbah is responsible for all the ills in Pakistan cricket.
It was mind-boggling to see how a renowned ‘sports anchor’ in his intro in the post-match show after the 1st ODI against Australia held Misbah’s ‘mindset’ responsible for the defeat. It was nothing but ludicrous. Misbah retired from ODI cricket in March 2015, almost 22 months before this particular match was played.
Yes, Misbah and his team lost the Test series 3-nil in Australia. But didn’t the teams under the captaincy of Waseem Akram (1999) and Mohammad Yousuf (2004 and 2010) face the same fate in previous tours to Australia? (Inzamam-ul-Haq captained the side in only one Test in 2004 series).
Did the pundits ever judge the ability, skill, and captaincy of the aforementioned gentlemen on the basis of these ‘whitewashed’ series? No, they didn’t. Then, how can they judge Misbah’s captaincy after the 3-nil ‘debacle’?
How can one forget Yousuf’s defensive field placing during the 2010 series? Maybe some of us have memories like sieves. The Channel 9 commentators said almost the same things about Yousuf’s ‘defensive’ captaincy as Ian Chappell said about Misbah’s, recently.
Some are even suggesting sarcastically that Misbah should play a couple of series in the UAE to improve team rankings again. Pakistan only plays its home matches in Emirates. Perhaps the UAE conditions are more conducive for Pakistan team, but that’s not the whole idea. They don’t just call it ‘home conditions’ for nothing, every cricket nation tries to take advantage of that.
In 2016, the number 1 Test ranked team India played 8 Tests out of which they won 7 and drew 1 in their own backyard. On the other hand Pakistan played only 3 Tests, won 2 and lost 1 at their ‘adopted’ home venue.
It is interesting to note here that ‘famous’ for playing only in Emirates, Pakistan played 8 Tests outside UAE while India played only 4 in a foreign land in 2016. Did we hear former Indian cricketers criticizing Virat Kohli and his team for playing 8 Tests out of 12 on home soil in the last calendar year? No, we didn’t!
It would be unwise to think that Misbah is calling all the shots. During the innings break in the third Test against Australia the captain was looking towards the dressing room for signals to help him make decision regarding the pitch roller. This showed that Micky Arthur has a major role in devising the game plan for the matches. He is anything but a docile coach. Not to mention he has a pretty woeful history with the Australian team in keeping them united, in one of his coaching stints in the past. He was sacked by Cricket Australia in 2013.
One has noticed that since his appointment as the coach of Pakistan team, the Test batsmen have started to take more risks. Consequently, the batting lineup has collapsed a few times and lost a couple of Test matches due to this new, supposedly aggressive approach; especially in chasing targets. Test matches at Hamilton, Melbourne, and Sydney could have been saved by displaying sensible batting approach, but the ‘aggressive’ approach let the team down.
Perhaps it is time to move on and focus on Pakistan’s Test tour to the Caribbean where history can be made. Pakistan is yet to win a Test series there. However, in 2011, Misbah’s men did manage to draw the series 1-1.
Misbah can have another feather in his cap by defeating West Indies in West Indies for the first time, if he decides to take up the challenge. And if he is able to achieve that, don’t forget to give credit where it is due. Yes, to the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board.
