Pakistan v England Betting: Misbah the marvellous

Pakistan v England / Frank Gregan / 30 January 2012 / Leave a Comment

That's for you. Misbah Ul Haq's batting record has improved dramatically since he took over the captaincy.

"That tour is remembered for all the wrong reasons but what tends to be forgotten is that Pakistan batted poorly during the series and that opened the door for Misbah to return to the fold and be handed the Test captaincy for the series against South Africa in the UAE."

He's far from being the most obvious candidate for a Test captain but Misbah Ul Haq's tenure as leader of the Pakistan cricket team has been remarkable, especially in the longest format. What's the secret, wonders Frank Gregan.

Leaders - they've all got different personalities. There's the rant and ravers, the quiet lead-by- example type and the manipulators, those who know how to push the right buttons and get the best from their people. We've all worked for different types of bosses and we all respond in different ways, it's difficult to quantify what technique is the best but a very good indicator in business is the bottom line. In sport it's even simpler, it's all about results.

The leader that all the cricket world is talking about at the moment is Pakistan's captain Misbah Ul Haq. He was probably the last person the country would have wanted as captain after the World T20 final in 2007. With Pakistan needing six from four balls to win the trophy Misbah, stepped away from his stumps and tried to flick the ball over short fine leg. It backfired, he was caught and arch-rivals India were crowned champions.

Every cloud, silver lining and all that certainly worked in Misbah's favour three years later. He was dropped from the national side after the 2010 World T20 and consequently missed the 'tour from hell' of England in the late summer. That tour is remembered for all the wrong reasons but what tends to be forgotten is that Pakistan batted poorly during the series and that opened the door for Misbah to return to the fold and be handed the Test captaincy for the series against South Africa in the UAE, after Shahid Afridi had retired from Test cricket and Salman Butt had been suspended . The series was drawn 0-0 with Misbah shining with the bat and the new skipper was off and running.

Since then it's been success almost all of the way for Pakistan. Misbah has the Midas touch and whilst his critics point to his tactical naivety, he thumbs his nose, bats with aplomb and steers his side to another victory. The burden of leadership is a myth as far as he is concerned, he is averaging an amazing 80 with the bat since he took over the reins. There are still those that believe his run owes much to luck but if that's the case, he has made his own luck with his tremendous batting performances.

So what else has contributed to his fantastic record? Without doubt, the ICC fixture secretary has leant a hand. Misbah has locked horns with New Zealand, the West Indies and Bangladesh during his short time at the helm, three sides that don't exactly strike fear into the heart these days and of course he has just enjoyed two fantastic wins against England, a team that travels about as well as the Titanic!

But you can knock it as much as you like, the fact is Misbah has restored pride into a cricket team that was on its knees and he's gone about it the right way. He has led from the front, accepted that he can't re-write history but that he can determine his team's future. He's made the country proud of their cricketers again, something that seemed very unlikely only 18 short months ago.

This series has been tremendous for the Pakistan supporters and embarrassing for the English. This column pointed out that this was on the cards and those of you who took the [44.0] on a 3-0 Pakistan series win now have the option to turn the screen a very deep shade of green or roll the dice on a big pay day.

It may well come down to the two skippers. Who would you want on your side? A guy with a very good tactical brain but is struggling for runs and leading a team that has been mauled in the last two matches? Or the bloke who seemingly can do no wrong with the bat and only has to throw the ball to his spinners in order to get wickets? Tactical nous is grossly over-rated!