LAHORE: Pakistan’s long-serving captain Misbah-ul-Haq announced on Sunday he will retire from One-day Internationals after the World Cup.

The 40-year-old said he has informed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) of his decision about a week ago although he intends to keep playing Test cricket.

Misbah becomes Pakistan’s second senior player after Shahid Afridi to announce his one-day retirement after the World Cup which is being staged in Australia and New Zealand from Feb 14 to March 29.

“It’s my final decision and I have informed the PCB of my decision,” Misbah said. “It would be icing on the cake if I retire with a World Cup win and I will do my best to do that. I’ve thought about this for a long time.

“The World Cup is an important event and I want to finish on a winning note,” said Misbah, who will be playing his second World Cup after featuring in Pakistan’s semi-final finish in 2011.

Since his debut for Pakistan in 2002, Misbah has played 153 One-day Internationals, scoring 4,669 runs at an average of 42.83 with 37 fifties, the most runs without a hundred in all ODIs.

He has led Pakistan in 78 games, with a more than 50 per cent success rate after replacing Afridi as one-day leader in May 2011.

He quit Twenty20 cricket in 2012 but continued to feature in domestic T20 matches.

Misbah became Pakistan’s most successful Test captain in the recent series against New Zealand in the UAE. He was appointed Test captain in late 2010 after the spot fixing scandal in England led to Salman Butt being banned.

“Test cricket remains the ultimate test for me and this year we have some tough series coming up against England and India,” said Misbah, who tied Test cricket’s fastest century against Australia in the UAE last year.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan said the board accepted Misbah’s decision and appreciated the hard work and commitment he had shown in leading the team at a difficult time for Pakistan cricket.

“Misbah has formally informed us he will retire from ODIs and not play T20 cricket after the World Cup. He wants to focus on Test cricket,” Shaharyar said on Sunday.

“He has been a big source of inspiration for the Pakistan team since the spot-fixing scandal and it is his personal decision to retire from ODIs after the World Cup.”

Pakistan will fly to New Zealand on Jan 21 to play two One-day Internationals on Jan 31 and Feb 3.

They will play two warm-up games on Feb 9 and 11 before taking on India in their first World Cup match in Adelaide on Feb 15.

Besides Misbah and Afridi, Younis Khan is also likely to quit one-day internationals but the senior batsman has not yet taken a final decision.

PCB spokesman Agha Akbar, meanwhile, said the board will organise a ceremony in honour of the Pakistan captain before a short training camp in Lahore next week.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2015

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