Misbah-Ul-Haq’s positive attitude silences the critics…
Many viewers of Pakistan cricket thought that the appointment of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 as Pakistan’s Test Captain was an ill advised move on the part of the Pakistan Cricket Board. It reflected, they thought a poor choice and a “compromise” after Salman Butt was sacked from the same position and suspended thereafter. But only a few realized that Misbah did possess a fair amount of knowledge regarding the dynamics of the game and that the most important trait of the man has been his persistent positive outlook.
Defeating http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 was never going to be an easy feat and to be honest, after the scurrying losses during the One Day and T20 series, a chance to recover or save face seemed hardly possible. But in a statement given by Misbah, his determination and optimism shined through, talking in terms of the game rather than the victory.
“I have learnt over the years that if you enter the ground with a positive frame of mind, things go your way and if you don’t, things start to haunt you” expressed Misbah which clearly indicated the intentions of the Captain of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 team. The first encounter of the Test series that stood drawn certainly brought joy to the Pakistan Captain and the team overall. The situation in which Pakistan was in at the last day of the first innings did not look great until the inevitable defeat was diverted by the steady batting from the Younis Khan and the Captain himself.
It has to be kept in mind that Misbah was dropped from the side after the embarrassing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 tour. But Misbah prevailed, continuing on in the domestic circle instead and after steady performances he approached the Selection Committee, enquiring about his omission from the squad. The Board in light of his performance including a double hundred recalled the player only to again drop him from the team. But this is how Pakistani cricket works and once more the player was called in to join the team, this time to lead it in the longer form of the game. This also brought criticism on the part of the media regarding the decision taken by the PCB. This is not something new as inclusion of former players in the team has also been questioned by the same media a number of times in the past.
Misbah’s new appointment was the perfect opportunity for a comeback and Misbah was all geared towards it. His first innings downfall did concern many as once again the critics found some space for their arguments but the second innings upheld the stature of the Captain as the savior of the team. It can be safely said that although luck played a great deal in the game, the Captain’s steadfastness and positive attitude all but saved the match. The future will tell whether the appointment of the 36 year old Captain was the right move or not but for the time being the selection seems to be the right fit.
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