Misbah - a man of many colors

Pakistan's former captain Misbah-ul-Haq became one of the most powerful people in Pakistan cricket after he assumed the post of national cricket team head coach and chief selector on Wednesday.

Misbah is not a newbie in the cricketing circuit and has played an instrumental role in Pakistan cricket while serving at various positions.

Here are some of the achievements of the country’s most successful Test captain.

As a player:

• In ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, his peak position was sixth in October 2013
• In ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, his peak position was seventh in July 2013
• In ICC Player Rankings for T20I Batsmen, he reached number-one in April 2008, and stayed there for 313 days
• Struck the fastest half-century in Test history off just 21 balls against Australia in Abu Dhabi in 2014
• Equalled the then fastest Test century world record by reaching his century from just 56 balls in the same innings
• Only player to make three scores of 99 in Test cricket
• Scored most ODI runs without a century (5,122), hitting 42 half-centuries in the process
• Played in three ICC T20 World Cups and was part of the 2009 victorious team
• Played in the ICC Cricket World Cups 2011 and 2015, scoring a total of 598 runs at an average of 49.83

Feats he achieved:

• Captained the Pakistan national team in 56 Tests – more than anyone else
• Only captain to lead Pakistan to Test series victory in the West Indies
• Won 26 Tests as captain, more than any other Pakistan captain; lost 19 and drew 11
• Led Pakistan to the number-one position in the ICC Test Championship in 2016 and held that position for two months
• Captained in eight T20Is, winning six and losing two
• Captained in 87 ODIs, winning 45 and losing 39 with two tied and one no-result
• Won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award in 2016 “for inspiring his side to play the game in its true spirit, at the same time lifting the Pakistan cricket team from number four to number one on the ICC Test team rankings. Remarkably, this was achieved without playing any Test matches in his home country”
• Captained Islamabad United to their first HBL PSL title in 2016Copyright Business Recorder, 2019