Misbah : The Saviour

(Fahad Ali Khan, Islamabad)

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. “ Lao Tzu

Pakistan’s cricket, though already in shambles after the terrorist attack on Siri Lankan cricket team in 2009 that took the home advantage away from them, hit its lowest in 2010 when the spot fixing scandal came about; it ruined whatever pride we had in our cricket. I as a cricket fan was in pain, I had been an ardent follower of Pakistan’s cricket since the late 90s largely due to the great bowling attack we had with the likes of Wasim, Waqar, Saqlain and Shoaib, it hurt more when I saw the involvement of Asif and Amir in the spot fixing scandal. By then I had lost Faith in Pakistan’s cricket and I was ashamed to be a fan. And I suppose most cricket fans felt the same.

Keeping in view the context, it was rather Naïve to believe at that time that a Messiah of sorts would rejuvenate the pride of our cricket team and it was fool hardy to make someone in the team to be the flag bearer because there was none to trust. Who would have thought that Misbah; “the person responsible for Pakistan’s 2007 T2o world cup defeat “as many would say, would one day rise to become a captain. If I am not wrong he wasn’t even selected in the 2010 Test team that toured England.

Through thick and thin he remained poised and took the torch forward for Pakistan’s cricket. During insurmountable defeats in terms of lost matches and national tragedies he remained steadfast towards his cause and his cause was to make Pakistan the no.1 test side in the cricketing world. A man with a solid character and leadership qualities that seem to be very rare in a country that is always in dearth of leaders, he is an exemplary captain and a man who rarely gives up in challenges.

However, some would still believe that Imran Khan was the best cricket captain ever for Pakistan because he was aggressive and won us the worldcup. I believe Imran was magnificent but he was always a star, he was already someone whether he had won the worldcup or not and he had the skills to overcome any cricketer of that time. Misbah on the other hand had to do the hard yards, he was sidelined for almost a decade, never had the privilege to play outside of Pakistan and came from a humble background. He had to really strive to attain a position in the side. Additionally, he quietly overcame numerous challenges in terms of portraying a good image of the team, no home matches, politics, and terrorism and to many people’s surprise he led the team to be the number one side in tests.

Some would argue that Misbah’s time is over as this is the best time to handover the torch, In my opinion he should be allowed to make his own choice at least he deserves this much for his efforts over the years and no matter what decision he takes after the Australian tour he would remain an example for many to follow.
 

Fahad Ali Khan
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