Back in the early nineties, Imran Khan set the bar high when it came to captaining Pakistan. With the help of men like Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram, Imran pulled out a previously under-achieving Pakistan team from its abyss of diffidence and negativity and turned it into one of the best sides of that era.

Since then, Pakistan have tried a long list of captains but with little Imranesque success. We’ve had the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq. Almost all of them, unfortunately, have failed to measure up.

From this list, the last two -- Misbah and Afridi -- are still in command. As Test and ODI skipper, Misbah is effectively ‘the captain’ of Pakistan. Afridi, meanwhile, has managed to earn a reappointment as the Twenty20 skipper till the next ICC World Twenty20 championship in 2016. But it is widely understood that in case Misbah fails to lift his performance both as captain and as the team’s senior batsman over the next few months, then there is a big likelihood that Afridi would be elevated to the post of Pakistan’s skipper for World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand. But that would be a different story.

Let’s stick to the possibility that Misbah would lead Pakistan at World Cup 2015.

Back in 1992, when after initially being written off due to a spate of losses Pakistan bounced back with a vengeance to win the World Cup, it was the Imran-Miandad dynamic that clicked. It worked like a match made in cricketing heaven with Imran being the charismatic leader and Miandad his street-smart deputy. Together, they brought out the best from their players enabling Pakistan to win the World Cup against all odds.

With World Cup 2015 fast approaching, Pakistan desperately need planets to align so that the unlikely duo of Misbah and Afridi could emulate their illustrious predecessors.

It won’t be easy.

After all, Afridi and Misbah are like fire and ice.

One of the few active quadragenarian cricketers in international cricket in the lead up to next year’s World Cup, Misbah represents the old school.

He plays by the book and doesn’t even believe in taking calculated risks. Having endured a raw deal for a long stretch of time that consumed the best part of his professional career, Misbah has mastered the art of patience. Though I don’t think that his nickname ‘tuk-tuk’ is well-deserved, it does make sense to most cricket fans in Pakistan.

He might be going through a lean patch these days but Misbah is easily one of the few players in the current Pakistani pool who can be labelled as ‘reliable batsmen’.

Reliability is one word that Afridi tore out of his dictionary the day he picked up a cricket bat. He is a daredevil, who could be a match-winner on his day and a match-spoiler when he is off colour. There are some bits and pieces of his career when Afridi seemed to show maturity -- his twin hundreds in Sri Lanka and match-winning performances in the 2009 World Twenty20 -- but it all turned out to be a case of false hope. Afridi is like gambling. Love him or leave him.

The thing is that when it comes to their approaches and personalities, Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq are polar opposites. But Pakistan will need them to bond well if the 1992 champions want to have any chance of regaining the World Cup Down Under.

But as I said it won’t be easy. A pessimist would find it downright impossible.

How can you expect Misbah and Afridi to share the leadership burden without anything going horribly wrong?

It’s true that on the surface the chances of Misbah and Afridi working together as a team do not look bright. They are polar opposites. Both of them have their own favourites too. Then you have to consider Afridi’s ambition to lead Pakistan to a World Cup triumph before he finally retires. That’s Pakistan cricket’s elephant-in-the-room topic.

But from where I see it, there is a glint of hope for Pakistan. After all Imran and Miandad had plenty of differences before they finally worked things out.

Just like Imran and Miandad, Misbah and Afridi are intelligent cricketers who are well aware that their team is in a desperate need for good, solid leadership.

Imran was lucky that he had several match-winners like Wasim and Inzamam in his team of ‘92. Misbah doesn’t enjoy that luxury.

That’s why it is all the more important for both Misbah and Afridi to shrug aside any insecurities or personal ambitions and start working together.

To make a good start, they will both need to lift their personal form. In recent times, Misbah has been failing to find sufficient runs while Afridi has been firing blanks as a bowler. To inspire the team both the seniors will have to do better, much better.

Pakistan’s brittle middle-order will get a much-needed boost once Misbah starts scoring runs. Afridi’s return in the wickets column would help their bowling arsenal get much-needed ammunition.

Once Misbah and Afridi resume doing what they do best, half of Pakistan’s problems will be solved. Together, they can work on solving the rest.

But it’s easier said than done. Neither of them is getting any younger. Misbah is 40 and it’s an open secret that Afridi is much older than his official age (34). For them, it would take a herculean effort to lead from the front. But it can be done. Both of them are highly experienced and do not face any major fitness issues.

Pakistan’s cricket chiefs have shown confidence in their abilities by appointing them as captains and now the onus is on Misbah and Afridi to prove that they deserve it. Tiger Pataudi once famously said that captaincy is all about either pulling from the front or pushing from behind. This Pakistan team needs Misbah to perform both the tasks simultaneously with Afridi providing a helping hand.