Misbah-ul-Haq has returned to Pakistan after the last-over loss to India in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 without having any regrets over the shot that led to his dismissal and Pakistan’s loss.
India started the last over as firm favourites with 13 needed off the final over. However, a wide and a straight six off Joginder Sharma tilted the balance strongly in Pakistan’s favour. Misbah, however, was caught at short fine-leg trying a paddle scoop off a ball pitched outside the off stump.
“Losing a final to India is hard to accept,” Misbah told PTI on arrival in Karachi. "After a match in retrospect a lot of things are said. But I have no regrets over attempting that shot. It just didn’t come off for me.
"To be honest it was a premeditated shot. I had made up my mind to play the paddle shot. I had tried the shot many times in the tournament and it got me valuable runs. I was trying to get the ball over fine leg to the boundary.
“Unfortunately, it was a slower ball from Sharma and the ball just didn’t go as fast off the bat as it should have gone and it ended into a catch. It was a heart breaking moment for me and the team. The final was gone.”
Misbah was disappointed at having brought his team close to beating arch-rivals India on two occasions but failing to succeed on delivering the killer blow on either.
“It is disappointing but this is cricket,” he said. “You can’t have a good day all the time. But I am happy with my performance in the tournament. In fact the whole team performed beautifully; we just lost to India. Hopefully in the coming days we will put things right. But our performance in the tournament has put us in a confident and positive state of mind for our series against South Africa and India.”
Misbah, who was preferred over Mohammad Yousuf for the ICC World Twenty20, looks all set to make a Test comeback for the home series against South Africa. This will be Pakistan’s first Test series after Inzamam-ul-Haq’s retirement from Tests and with Yousuf’s reported commitments with the Indian Cricket League (ICL), the selectors may well decide to include Misbah to strengthen the middle order.
India started the last over as firm favourites with 13 needed off the final over.
Not sure if I agree. 13 runs in the last over is fairly routine in 20/20.
I thought the odds were in favor of Pak at that moment even if Pak had only 1 wicket left.
Also, Misbah's "slow ball" explanation makes sense totally. That is exactly what seemed to me at first. It almost looked like he had played the shot in slow-motion judging by the slow speed with which the ball went.
interesting: misbah says it was a pre-meditated shot and malik said in captain's corner with rameez that misbah told him he wanted to hit straight but at the last moment he changed his mind.
interesting: misbah says it was a pre-meditated shot and malik said in captain's corner with rameez that misbah told him he wanted to hit straight but at the last moment he changed his mind.
^ All those 5 tests were away tests - 2 in NZ against whom he made his debut and three against Australia (one in Colombo and 2 in Sharjah). And in that Australian series he was playing in a Pakistan side missing Inzi, Yousuf, Waqar and Wasim, so he was always batting in a crisis situation. He was duly dropped and not recalled until twenty-20 WC. Maybe he has worked hard on his technique since that disappointment. Test cricket is a different ball game altogether and only time will tell whether he can translate his twenty-20 form into success against SA in tests.
He has been scoring heavily in the domestic circuit for a long time. He was given some limited opportunities in the international arena, but didn't distinguish himself. Hence he was relegated to the status of a domestic bully in most people's minds. In retrospect, he should've been given more opportunties to prove himself... just like Faisal Iqbal, Imran Farhat, Salman Butt.
GA, Misbah is a below average cricketer when it comes to Int'l tests and ODI.
His speciality is T20 and the reason can be found in Osman Samiuddin and Rashid Latif's articles. It requires a special mind set in T20 where nothing is impossible. Come on, we have all played this format in our teens, don't you remember. Where 50 runs in last 3 overs is a norm and straight sixes are like a trademark shot of this format.
Misbah played really well ... I feel sorry for him. He was so determined in this inning ....
One mistake and its all over but he had no option, he had to belive his instincts cos he could not belive asif.
It is possible that he will be targeted but his mistake can not overshadow the foolish shots that other pakistani batsmans played. He was the one who brought pakistan in the game.
It was a good intention though, fine leg was up and anything past him was 4 or 6.
Execution needed to be better, that ball was just too wide for that shot.
I was just taking a look at Misbah-ul-Haq's statistics :
He has played 5 tests so far - highest score is 28
He has played 12 ODIs so far - his highest score his 50
Can't believe these are the statistics of the Misbah-ul-Haq we saw in this tournament.
PCB seems to favor those who score a century on debut, if you don't hit it then you are dumped, you will be recalled if there is severe shortage of "senior" players. He was given chances one in a while (non-contiguous), not anything like we saw chances for Farhat, Taufeeq Umar and many others.
Actually I did not watch Misbah bat back in 2001-2, so I don’t know what he was like then. Admittedly test cricket is a different ball game altogether, the margin of error for a batsman is minimal, but if Misbah can strike boundaries like that in twenty-20 he has got to have some talent and skill and I am sure that with proper guidance and enouragement he can become a successful test batsman too. But he needs to be given a proper run, an entire series or two before we can judge him. If a tullahbaaz like Afridi can play 30 odd tests with moderate success then why can’t Misbah? And Misbah’s defence seems pretty good too. He did n’t get bowled in any of the games even when he was trying to slog or improvise. That plus his cool and calm temperament tells me that he can succeed at the highest level. He just needs more experience. :k: