Misbah ul Haq - not a match winning player - Part 2 - Opinion
Continued from Part 1...
It might be harsh to castigate a player who has done so much for Pakistan cricket, but the truth is that Misbah ul Haq lacks the flare and ability which forms the archetypal Pakistani cricketer that the world has known. He finds it hard to rotate the strike,
break the shackles and bat with impunity. These factors stand in stark contrast to the prowess of his contemporaries such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595, who believes in rotating the strike along with playing extravagant strokes. Misbah on the other hand, is more of a player
who takes his time at the crease and in the process drains the team of much needed runs. Many good players tend to get a feel of the conditions and middle the ball first before they resort to big hitting, yet for Misbah it takes ages for him to push the pedal
down. It is noteworthy, that the bulk of his scoring shots which are boundaries tend to flow when the death overs of Pakistan’s innings approach. If the opposition could stifle Pakistan’s run flow for the most part of the innings then it is fair to say that
Misbah Ul Haq simply returns the favor by batting without conviction.
The problem for a team however, is probably the overreliance on a player like him to come up with the goods when it is most needed. He is heavily relied upon when the chips are down and the weight of expectation that he carries at the crease, is immense.
His initial stay however, is marked by a strike rate which hovers around fifty, which is outdated in modern day ODI cricket. He finishes the innings with a marked improvement, but the initial slow going in the first half of his innings often acts to the detriment
of the team. No more was this fact evident than in the all important 3rd ODI clash between Australia and Pakistan at Sharjah, where the victor would be awarded the Cool and Cool Cup.
Misbah was sent in when Pakistani wickets were tumbling. The solid foundation laid down by the openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-c89347 Afridi’s
restlessness dented the smooth progression towards a formidable target. When Pakistan looked set to post 300 even after a series of dismissals, Misbah’s 25 runs off 62 deliveries derailed the smooth flow of runs and not a single six or a boundary was scored
in his innings. His futile attempt of clearing the rope out of frustration resulted in his downfall and with it, Pakistan further sunk in a whirlpool of disaster. The team eventually had to settle for a score of just 244, which was within Australia’s reach.
The result was a comfortable win for Australia in the end and Pakistan were ruing over not being able to score at least 20 more runs.
That result meant that a ten-year drought for Pakistan beating http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 would remain until the next time both teams meet each other in a bilateral encounter. For Misbah however, his innings was the continuation of a legacy which has frustrated diehard fans
to the point of them tearing their hair out.
His reputation for being a T20 specialist has also been questionable, as last year’s encounter with England in Abu Dhabi resulted in his team’s demise due to his slow batting. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 and fell agonizingly
short due to Misbah’s one dimensional approach. The target was gettable from the outset as the Pakistani openers managed to carve their way by hammering the English bowlers up front. When the momentum needed to be carried on by the middle order, Misbah could
only manage 28 off 32 deliveries, which proved to be the difference in a nail biting finish. If that performance was a once in a blue moon sort of affair, then vague flashbacks of the Mohali Semi Final, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 Final in 2007 and numerous other games
would reassert the claim that Misbah ul Haq is not the right man for Pakistan in ODI cricket. One can whisper it, but the fact that he is parodied for being too defensive and relentlessly stubborn, seems justified.
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