Unjustified criticism on http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 - Opinion
Pakistan cricket struck the rock-bottom of its history during the controversial tour of England in 2010. Misbah-ul-Haq, who was not even a part of the Test team at that stage, was surprisingly made the Test captain in place of the banned
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-Butt-c2418.
The decision, to handover the Test leadership to a player whose own place in the side was vulnerable, was immensely criticised in the local as well as in international media. However, the move by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 turned out to be an extra-ordinary
one, with the middle-order batsman emerging as one of the most successful Test captains of Pakistan’s history.
The 38-year-old cricketer reunited the whole team and took the best out of each individual. Having drawn series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747, losing
just one Test series in the meanwhile, against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 earlier this year.
One of the biggest victories in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033 (UAE).
Apart from earning a lot of praise from different ranks, Misbah has also found many haters because of his lacklustre approach in the middle-order at times. The right-hander’s infamous innings in the semi-final of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Cricket World
Cup 2011 is often criticised by the sporting analysts.
However, the cricketer from Mianwali feels that the criticism on his strike-rate is not justified as he has done better than many other current players. He feels that no one can satisfy the Pakistani fans as they want http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482
to bat slowly and expect him to play the big shots.
“I have been criticised too much, but there are players in our team who have a lesser strike-rate than me. They ask me to play at the strike-rate of 150 and tell Shahid Afridi to play at a rate of 75/100 balls,” the middle-order batsman
expressed.
The middle-order batsman has so far represented Pakistan in 36 Tests, 106 One Day Internationals and 39 T20s, having scored more than six thousand runs at the highest stage of the game, with brilliant averages in all three formats.
The right-hander is yet to score a hundred in the 50-over format but he is presently averaging 42.18 runs per innings, with a strike –rate of 74.15 runs per 100 balls.
Taking into account the record of the Pakistan captain, he is justified in saying that he has a better record in ODIs than many great players the country has produced over the years.
He mentioned, "I am an average player, but even the great players don't have an average of 42, with a strike-rate of 75. It is very easy to point fingers at others sitting at home.”
It is because of this criticism that Misbah was replaced by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Hafeez-c76898 earlier this year as the captain of the T20 team. The decision however, made sense as Misbah is at the twilight of his career and the country must look to build
a team for future.
There is no doubt that Misbah has played some shocking innings, completely destroying the rhythm of an innings; however, the cricket fans must remember that he has brought a lot of laurels to the country as well and the national team
was struggling in darkness when he took over in 2010.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely of the author and do not represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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