Pakistan need to rethink Misbah’s place in team: Gavaskar
“Some serious thought needs to be applied to Misbah’s position in the team.” -Photo by AFP
Former India great Sunil Gavaskar termed Pakistan’s abject surrender in the 3rd ODI against India “baffling display of timid batting” and suggested captain Misbah-ul-Haq rethink his place in the shorter-form of the game.
Pakistan, who won the three-match ODI series 2-1, lost the last game in New Delhi by 10 runs chasing a paltry total of 167. Although the defeat was drowned in euphoria at Pakistan’s triumph, the Indian batting legend said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) needed to take some tough decisions.
“One would have thought that the experienced Misbah-ul-Haq would have been able to handle the situation, but he inexplicably went into a shell and at the other end the excitable Umar Akmal was just waiting to do something rash,” Gavaskar said in his columns for Gulf News.
“It was the approach of Misbah that cost Pakistan the game, much as it did in the semi-finals of the World Cup two years back. Pakistan may have won the one-day series 2-1, but if they are to carry on winning then some serious thought needs to be applied to Misbah’s position in the team. He is not getting any younger and it was his dropped catch in Chennai that allowed Dhoni to go on to a century,” he added.
Gavaskar also tipped Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s captain in T20s, to take charge of the ODI side.
“Hafeez is looking a good leader and the way he is batting and bowling, as well as taking superb catches, he could be the man that Pakistan needs to win glory again. With the World Cup just a couple of years away, Pakistan, like India, should be looking at building a nucleus for that event — just like India seemed to be doing with the messages sent to two senior and prolific players by leaving them out of the team,” he said.
Whether Pakistan are ready to follow India’s lead it remains to be seen, but they will need to iron out the chinks fast as their next assignment pits them against the top-ranked South Africans in a three-match Test series, two T20s and five ODIs. The long tour starts on January 25 and will run until March 24.
gavasakar is not sympathetic to pak cricket! misbah was the hightest scorer in the run chase; he plays according to situation, provides stability, leads by example and has good cricketing brain; blame U. Akmal for not finishing the game; in the previous two ODI no need to Misbah to score as there was no crisis situation; why didn’t Hafeez finish the game? he was in such good form? I don’t like Hafeez, can handle pressure and throw away his wicket. Misbah always looks to built partnership. Atleast when Pak loose, they still loose fighting. Appointing Misbah as captain was the best thing happen to Pak in long time that’s why other teams don’t want him to lead Pakistan.
Pakistan didn’t lose that game fighting. It was a whimpish feeble defeat that should have had no chance of happening after the great start to the innings. However Misbah put paid to that.
though i am a great fan of mr gavaskar but i think he is wrong on this one.
i also think strangely Pakistani cricket fans generally don’t appreciate the contribution of misbah as a captain to the national side,the fact is Pakistan cricket was a mad house when he took over as the captain of the national team. he has given impressive results and brought calmness to the whole team. this should be respected.
Gavaskar’s own style was similar to that of Misbah I wonder why he is offering free advices. It is very easy to criticize playing style after match is over. Misbah is not the culprit. He had a plan to save wickets and than accelrate scoring in last overs instead of going for boundries and loosing wickets halfway through the match. This is a common approach. Gavaskar critcize Sehwag for being too aggressive while criticize Misbah for being too cautious. While jugding a batsman merit of the bowling and fielding is also taken into consideration. Batting is not done in vacuum. Mr Gavaskar should know better as a fomer batsman.
The match was probably fixed to salvage some Indian pride and some free cash for Pakistani players. No wonder Pak went down so tamely !
We got people who are taking care of all this. Mr. Gavaskar with kind regards please have a look onto your own team performance which is getting miserable day by day ever since they won the world cup, try pin pointing things in your team, because I’ve never seen Indian sharing something for Pakistan benefits, you didn’t give us 2 man of the match awards, and the last one that to our spin bowling legend Saeed Ajmal who got his career best bowling figures, although he don’t need any award for his credibility (Not even the ICC one) but clearly it’s very unfair. So you better keep your valuable suggestions with yourself and rather share these with your team for their good. Thank you and no offence
Misbah has done a great job for the country. He took over the captanicy of the Pakistani cricket team when the team was in a very difficult time and made that unit a very well knit unit. In general I agree with Gavaskar that one cannot be the part of the team based on just their captaincy credentials but Pakistani team is unique. You can pick best Pakistani 11 and put them under a weak captain and I bet that team will be in a disarray immediately. I think Misbah should stay in the team for another 1-2 years with Hafeez as his deputy under training. He needs to change his batting approach in one day format to be more positive. He is a good batsman. He just have to play more positive cricket.
More than performance analysis, the valid point he has made requires attention. Is this the team for the World Cup 2015? Is this your captain? It is difficult to think that the PCB and the selectors are not thinking about it. Misbah can make it easier for the selectors by stepping aside like Tendulkar, Pointing, and Hussey. And that should be now. Misbah has done a wonderful job. Pakistan should thank him and move on to the next level. PCB should also be committed to a new captain till the WC 2015 and allow him to work with the selectors and build a team. This team has some exciting players and if allowed consistency, Dave will make them a winner.
“Whether Pakistan are ready to follow India’s lead it remains to be seen”…
Pakistan doesn’t need to follow india in anything. Pakistan makes its own fortunes. Long live Pak Team.
Misbah should go. His batting is miserable. Actually due to his batting and fielding Pakistan become crucial in each important match. Misbah Uncle leave us alone.
Learn to respect your players Saima! If Misbah is unfit to be the captain than only the board and selectors should be held responsible. It is not his decision to be the Captain. He has been sincere to his country and has tried his best to win games for Pak! Calling him names show that it is actually you who may need to go back to school!
Gavaskar has a point. The issue is whether Misbah should be dropped now or later. I would say later perhaps after South Africa series….which will be a tough one. That said on the whole Misbah has done a great job with the team, from leadership viewpoint. He has brought calmness and sense of normality. So he should be applauded for that. Whilst Hafiz is a good player he does not have same leadership qualities as Misbah. The akmal brothers don’t react well to pressure….they need to be groomed in the class room to learn how to deal with pressure. Their body language is awful…..that’s why somebody like Misbah is need around for some time more
Yes .. Gavaskar is correct. Nothing personal to Misbah. It’s all about process and the process demands that Misbah must make room for someone more enthusiastic and mentally smarter. His captaincy style and batting style does not suit the ODI requirements.
Except INDIA in my locality we are big lovers of pakistani cricket…Pakistani bowlers….i love umar gul and m.d aamir…….and for gavaskar think about INDIAN batters rather than pakistaani player…
Gavaskar has no right to comment on Misbah`s batting. He should keep in mind what he did in 1975 world cup match against England-batting out 60 overs for just 36. A disgusted spectetor threw his lunch at the opener`s feet.
I always admired and loved Sunil Gavaskar. I agree with him, that Misbah tactics did cost Pakistan a complete white wash over India(Unless the match was fixed). I just don’t know, what happened o Indian batting. Beside Dhoni, no one has done anything for India.
Sunny is a world class cricketer who has an eye to judge a player by his skills and callibre. He is not the only one who criticize Misbah’s poor captaincy skills there are sr pak cricketers too who have expressed the same about misbah as player & captain. One must have a cricketting brain to qualify to be a captain and Hafeez is one of them.
is there any credibility left in his words…Lets see…what did he say about indian captain before this series and what Dhoni did proved gavasker dead wrong. These old players who played three test per year and scored 1st run in two hours need to realize that they are not the demi gods of this game in the modern era.
Thank you Mr. Gavaskar for being so constructive and realistic about Pak-Team and that Tuk-Tuk-Captain Misbah. Pls. say it again that Misbah, Yunus, Azhar Ali and India’s Jamai Raja should be OUT right away like we kept Afridi OUT. A.Razzaq must be included in the team, he is a fine all rounder like Hafeez and as a Captain Hafeez is great. Umar Akmal must be controlled otherwise, he will end up like Afridi. Kamran Akmal should also be replaced once we find a wicket Keeper/Batsman like Dhoni. We have sufferred many defeats as Kamran has failed as an ‘opening batsman’. Wondering why was he sent to open the innings.??? Thanks again. Regards, Iqbal Hussain. (USA).
I absolutely 100% agree with Gavaskar. It was Misbah who cost Pakistan the Semi Final game against India in the WC and it was Misbah once again who cost Pakistan the 3rd ODI against India thus preventing a 3-0 sweep.
Please PCB and selectors wake up and use your brain honestly in selecting the team. The only player scored in the odi series was nasir jamshed, Younis , Misbah the most aged and to be called senior playes did not perform in the middle order, Kamran Akmal has 2 ducks and Umer Akmal selfishness .
Selector selected Azhar Ali for Odi thats nuts . Wake up wake up please be sincere and honest to your country money is not everything. Give chance to younsters when they go to the tour. Thats a request from the whole nation of Pakistan , Sack Misbah from captaincy. That is so frustrating seeing him as a captain .
Saad USA
I completely in agreement, that Musbah is done and we should develop new talent to lead the ODI &Test teams.
10000000000000000% agreed with you Sunil, even Misbah has to rethink his place at Tests as well i didnt see any good performance from him as of yet so he has to leave the place for juniors, but who cares this is the very big problem in india and pakistan that no one is ready to leave or not ready to give chances to their juniors because they knows that they dont have any place in these circumstances and if they leave now they will be no more, all politicians and players are included in this list. Really very sad for my beloved country Pakistan. Long live Pakistan without all these Culprits
Gavaskar is right, Misbah has no place in this ODI side and he will not be around by the time of 2015 World Cup………….
there you go Sunny….. bulls eye….. alongside this PCB should also rethink about Akmal Brothers …. it was also quite annoying to see budding youngsters in the Dug Out they were not even used as substitutes …. I saw Umar Akmal and Imran Farhat used as Substitute fielders in the 1st and 2nd
ODIs …
pakistan has won the series ………………..Just because of the last one day match loss Gavasker should not complain his performance…..First I will suggest gavasker to rectify the faults in our Indian team rather than Pakistan team……………….Wondipuli chennai
he is commenting from a pure cricketing angle.It’s not indian or pakistani biased. He’s absolutely right to point out the futility on run scoring when Misbah is in the middle.I honestly believe that just like our culture, our cricket board is too relaxed to tweak to get better. Misbha place in the team is no more than a “lucky charm” due to the results that Pakistan has achieved under his captaincy.
Gavaskar has been an inspiration for Pakistani players as well and his point of view on south asian cricket is for the sake of better sporting spirit. Cheers!
Nothing that Mr. Gavaskar has said or suggested has taken away the much deserved victory of Pakistan, but in the light of everything magnificient that we have seen in the past few days i think when somebody this senior and with the sensibility of the game suggest something constructive, we should learn to listen to him. Mr. Gavasker is absolutely right and we should accept the fact that Misbah’s playing days are behind him now. I dont care if he is also critisizing indian team or not but if a suggestion is made that is worth looking into, we must do.
Sometimes it is useful to look into facts with logic rather than taking it as an offence.
Wondipuli, do you really know, what you are talking about. I fully endorses Sanil Gavaskar views.
>> “It was the approach of Misbah that cost Pakistan the game, much as it did in the semi-finals of the >> World Cup two years back.
Misbah is an idiot. Him and Mohammad Yousaf are the kind of players, that should never ever leads any team. Because of these two morans, we have lost not just the games, but series too. That loss in Australia few years ago, because of Yousaf captaincy, still hurts me and always will.
Mr. Gavaskar is exactly right.
Gavasker is right on the money. Pakistan’ bench players as usual were mere tourists. One would have hoped that at least Haris Sohail was given the opportunity given the series was already won. But there are strong lobby in the management who constantly protects the interests of Akmal clans. Had Haris been played and performed, this could have been a big curtain for Umar Akmal. It’s time the selectors realize that to succeed at international level one needs brain and wisdom to compliment talent but unfortunately Umar Akmal may have the talent but the buck stops here. Time to move on and give opportunities to some of the bench players, don’t select them just to carry drinks and take photographs.
Every time I think about going to the circus to see the clowns, I save my money and instead opt to watch Umar Akmal ‘take responsibility’ when he is batting for Pakistan. If someone could explain to me exactly how he got out and what he was doing at the time? Beyond me. He should go, but we know what will happen…
@ GreenOval – You said it all my friend….. I don’t even play the younger Akmal in the mohallah cricket as he is extremely highly overrated player for the reasons known to the selectors only. I am really surprised whenever Ramiz Raja commenting praises him as if he is the calibre of some great players. Feel like he has got a big parchi behind him.
Oh well, I would rather celebrate the win against India rather criticizing a player who doesn’t deserve to be in the team as nobody will pay any attention to the fans feelings for the team. God bless!!!
That’s PCB for you. If not for our bias and hypocriricle PCB policies, Pakistan would have been one of the top teams in the world. Talents coming out from left right and centre in Pakistan, but, what’s the use, if the talents have not been used.
GreenOval! Umer is not just talented..he is a special talent that is rare!! so don’t make wild suggestions to get rid of one of the rare talent Pak cricket has in its box!! We must explore the key to align his act and talent to his natural potential and groom him at all costs to convert him into his true worth..that is a world class batsman! Please learn to address them with dignity and respect!
Agree with that. Umar has genuine talent. He also has had the misfortune to bat in the middle order too often with Misbah as his partner. Someone has to score the runs & if Misbah refuses to, someone else has to. Umar is too often forced to take risks & it’s pathetic that the captain places these additional pressures on his younger players.
Gavaskar is 100% right Thank You Sir, your comments are welcome this was his sincere advise for Misbah to quit ODI we did not win because of Misbah’s captaincy we won the series only because of few players, there are lot of them do not deserve to be in the ODI team,namely Younus Khan, Shahid Afridi,Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Misbah-Ul-Haq there is no place for them in the ODI team. we have to inject some fresh young blood I am sure there is plenty of talent in Pakistan,secondly I wonder why India always goes for a English or Australian Coach when they have legend like Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Ganguly Dada,Little MasterTandulkar,& Kumbley so many greats , what make’s BCCI looks for Coach outside the country.BCCI should think again & again before hiring a English coach I think India will do much better with utilizing the services of Indian legend.
Fair comments…..I guess PCB and hopefully Misbah are also thinking about post-Misbah team in particular the ODI.