LAHORE - Peter Oborne has termed Misbahul Haq as all time best captain of Pakistan cricket even greater than former legends Abdul Hafeez Kardar and Imran Khan.
In an exclusive interview with Radio Pakistan, Peter, who is a British journalist and chief political commentator of the Daily Telegraph and an author of generous biography of the cricketer Basil D’Oliveira who won two ‘book of the year’ awards, said: “Misbah has done extraordinary job for Pakistan. To me, he is all time best captain even greater than Abdul Hafeez Kardar and Imran Khan because he took the responsibility of the national team when Pakistan cricket was on verge of decline. It was his brave decision and commitment to his duty that he left no stone unturned in bringing out the sinking ship of Pakistan cricket from deep sea.”
He elaborated: “Misbah helped the country’s cricket at the time, when it was facing the toughest times and no one was ready to take this greater responsibility, but it was Misbah who remained firm and determined in doing his duty and utilized all his capabilities in earning glories for the country.”
He claimed: “Kardar is my hero who is real founder of Pakistan cricket. Being PCB chairman, he struggled hard against white nations and earned a great honour for the country and its cricket.”
He also praised the beautiful and historical cricket ground of Gymkhana in the city of Lahore and termed it his most favourtie cricket ground. “During my visit to Pakistan, I always prefer to visit Lahore Gymkhana cricket ground which has remarkable memories as far as cricket in Asian region is concerned. It has honour to host Pakistan’s first Test match in 1960s while India won its first Test against Australia in 1935 at the same ground under the captaincy of great Syed Wazir Ali.”
Expressing contentment over the security situation in Pakistan, Peter stated: “There is a significant improvement in the security situation of the country and I hope this improvement will help in bringing international cricket back here. It is very excruciating to see the players playing their home series away which puts immense pressure on them while playing against world’s top teams and affects their performance. The international cricket resumption in the country will help Pakistani players deliver in a better way and strengthen their confidence.”
Admiring the passion of cricket in Pakistan, he said: “There is no dearth of talent in the country as cricket has spread in its each and every corner. There is some magic in Pakistan as it has produced some genius cricketers. It has enjoyed a great honour in the world of cricket so it must reestablish its integrity.”
On Big-3 issue, he proposed that India should have carried other nations with it to make the idea far better. “Corruption is a universal problem now and it has strong roots in the game of cricket as well. The ICC should make a plan which should be equally beneficial for all its affiliated units and especially for the better of cricket.”
Re: Misbah greater captain than Kardar, Imran: Peter
Misbah is the best bet among the current lot of average Pak players. He has led the team well but Misbah has also benefited from the fact that there are no great test teams around. Australia maybe the no. 1 ranked team in Tests and ODIs in the world right now but the present side is a pale shadow of the great team that dominated world cricket from 1999 to 2007. South Africa are also good rather than great.
Misbah remains a VERY defensive captain. For starters he has no away test series wins against any of the major test playing nations
To suggest that Misbah is better than IK, Kardar, Miandad and Mushtaq is laughable indeed
Ritchie Benaud, Greg and Ian Chappell, Boycott, Gavaskar, Holding, Viv's views etc. certainly count more than this unknown nobody Peter Oborne..
Re: Misbah greater captain than Kardar, Imran: Peter
Even Younis Khan was tactically a better leader than Misbah but for one reason or another (personal ego, team & PCB politics etc.) Younis decided to call it quits.
Re: Misbah greater captain than Kardar, Imran: Peter
Misbah is the best bet among the current lot of average Pak players. He has led the team well but Misbah has also benefited from the fact that there are no great test teams around. Australia maybe the no. 1 ranked team in Tests and ODIs in the world right now but the present side is a pale shadow of the great team that dominated world cricket from 1999 to 2007. South Africa are also good rather than great.
Misbah remains a VERY defensive captain. For starters he has no away test series wins against any of the major test playing nations
To suggest that Misbah is better than IK, Kardar, Miandad and Mushtaq is laughable indeed
Ritchie Benaud, Greg and Ian Chappell, Boycott, Gavaskar, Holding, Viv's views etc. certainly count more than this unknown nobody Peter Oborne..
he can only play against the teams which are there, cant go and play on Mars, can he. To say that he is average just because you hold Imran in very high regard is laughable. Imran was a good captain but the brains behind was always Miandad. Plus Imran had some very good players with him. Misbah has acheived all this with average players and a totally demoralised and destroyed squad when he took over.
Re: Misbah greater captain than Kardar, Imran: Peter
Misbah has no away series wins against any of the 'current' major test teams. Lost 3-0 in SA recently. Let's see how the team fares under him when they visit England and Australia next (i.e. if he remains captain after 2015 WC)
Re: Misbah greater captain than Kardar, Imran: Peter
Misbah has no away series wins against any of the 'current' major test teams. Lost 3-0 in SA recently. Let's see how the team fares under him when they visit England and Australia next (i.e. if he remains captain after 2015 WC)
Misbah has no home wins either. He has never played on home grounds as a captain. He has series victories, if he didnt play on home ground than those victories must have come some where.
Re: Misbah greater captain than Kardar, Imran: Peter
I have not seen IK, Kardar, Miandad and Mushtaq as captains but its difficult to accept tht misbah is better than them, the only issue is misbah has defensive approach rather than attacking.
Re: Misbah greater captain than Kardar, Imran: Peter
he can only play against the teams which are there, cant go and play on Mars, can he. To say that he is average just because you hold Imran in very high regard is laughable. Imran was a good captain but the brains behind was always Miandad. Plus Imran had some very good players with him. Misbah has acheived all this with average players and a totally demoralised and destroyed squad when he took over.
No way, had you not mentioned IK and had there been a statement that Misbah is 3rd best after IK and Afridi, then it would have been acceptable, otherwise taking the team in top 4 and 5 when there no home cricket and very limited international cricket compare to other cricketing nation is just miss calculation and nothing more...
Re: Misbah greater captain than Kardar, Imran: Peter
I have not seen IK, Kardar, Miandad and Mushtaq as captains but its difficult to accept tht misbah is better than them, the only issue is misbah has defensive approach rather than attacking.
When you have "world class " batsmen like we have in our team you have to be defensive. The team was shambles when he took over and has brought respectability to the team and he country. Have not played even one series at home yet bamboozled and whitewashed the English team in UAE. ** How many captains have done that**. Without Misbah's leadership we would have been at Zimbabwe and BD level. Give credit where it is due. He has my respect for bringing unity and stability back into Pakistan team.
Re: Misbah greater captain than Kardar, Imran: Peter
When you have "world class " batsmen like we have in our team you have to be defensive. The team was shambles when he took over and has brought respectability to the team and he country. Have not played even one series at home yet bamboozled and whitewashed the English team in UAE. How many captains have done that. Without Misbah's leadership we would have been at Zimbabwe and BD level. Give credit where it is due. He has my respect for bringing unity and stability back into Pakistan team.
yes I agree home series matters a lot but still , lets hope so misbah brings us 2015 world cup :D
Re: Misbah greater captain than Kardar, Imran: Peter
I think Misbah never quite gets the credit he deserves. It would be worth remembering that he took over a side that was in shambles after the spot fixing affair and the Ijaz Butt era. Unlike most predecessors, he has had neither had a strong pace attack, nor a regular opening pair. Given all that, his work so far has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Re: Misbah greater captain than Kardar, Imran: Peter
Only if Misbah had luxury of a good bowling attack, batsmen like Saeed Anwar, Javed Miandad, Inzamamul Haq, Zaheer Abbas he may have built a WI of 70s, or Aus of 2000s.