Misbah-ul-Haq – criticised for what?

Misbah-ul-Haq – criticised for what?

There has been a lot of criticism on Pakistan’s skipper Misbah-ul-Haq despite his impressive performances for the team in the past one and a half year.

Many claim that the 37-year-old is a defensive leader and batsman, but I disagree with this allegation. Misbah might not be the most aggressive player, but his balanced approach has been fruitful for the team.

Since taking over the team’s captaincy, Misbah has been in prolific form. He has led Pakistan to some terrific victories and is yet to be beaten in any series. Despite all this, critics believe he needs to have an aggressive approach.

However, the veteran is not bothered about such comments and said, "Cricket these days should be taken up with a balanced approach, [But] it’s better to win by playing defensively, instead of losing by playing aggressively. It’s all about the situation;
what you are required to do or not do in a particular scenario."

Pakistan, under Misbah, have won most of their matches against minnows Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Ireland. However, they have also done well against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies, which is not really considered by the critics.

Currently, the Men in Green are hosting a series against the number one Test and Twenty20 side England in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Performing well and winning against them will silence the critics once and for all.

The Pakistani skipper realises this opportunity and said, "My approach is simple in cricket: when you go onto the ground, give your 100% and focus on your performance. Forget about who the opposition is, do what you can do right, play tough cricket
and then you look at the results. When you do all these things right, results will be in your favour."

I believe Misbah has been rated as a defensive player because of his failures in just one or two innings. He has a strike-rate of 75 and 114 in ODI and T-20 cricket respectively.

Compared to this, Shoaib Malik, who was rated as an aggressive cricketer has a strike-rate of 79 and 113 in both these formats. Other than that, he averages way below Misbah in all three versions of the game.

People should think before criticising anyone. Misbah deserves a lot more respect than he is given. He will certainly prove his worth to everyone by beating England in UAE and I hope that all the negative criticism will fade away after the ongoing
series.

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Posted by Waqar Masood on Jan 17 2012. Filed under Opinion, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry