BLOG: Tale of two captains

It’s ironic that it happened in the same week, when current skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, someone the nation (the non BOOM BOOM type) didn’t like for his tuk tuk attitude, got the Test mace for No.1 ranking, and the former captain, swashbuckling Shahid Afridi, continues to stay out of cricket with his future uncertain. 

The story began exactly 20 years ago, when a 16-year old leg spinner, Shahid Afridi joined the Pakistan team in Nairobi. ODI Cricket was changing and slogging was the new name of run making. Sri Lankan all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya just helped Sri Lanka win the World Cup with his quick batting. Every team was inducting ‘pinch hitters’ in their squads and when Afridi smashed the fastest hundred on 37 deliveries, he seemed like the ‘answer’ to every problem.

For a good 8 years, Afridi was the man, as he won us the first tri-nation series in Australia, excelled in Test Series in India as well as enthralling the crowds everywhere with his game. He was taking wickets, fielding superbly and above all, an honest player in a team which needed it the most.

But, an ‘Honest but Inconsistent’ player is, at times more harmful than a ‘Dishonest but Consistent’ one. For a generation which has grown up watching Afridi as a savior, consistent is a word from another planet. They, who have not even seen Javed Miandad perform in his prime, would never have understood the word, had there been no Misbah-ul-Haq.

The last of the greatest batsmen produced by Pakistan was Inzamam-ul-Haq, but even the ‘batting giant’ had his terrible ‘inconsistency patches’. Be it Bangalore Quarter final of 1996, the World cup final in 1999, or other occasions, the giant failed to wake up at times. His test record was different, as the batting line was so dependant on him that 23 out of his 25 hundreds came ‘not’ in a losing cause. (Younis and Yusuf have ‘7 defeats each’ attached to their over 55 centuries).

Misbah-ul-Haq earned his permanent Test seat at the age of 34, but age was just a number for him. He was to get captaincy when Pakistan cricket was down in the dumps after the 2010 Spot fixing scandal. With a media constantly against him and paid analysts praising those who left the team when needed, Misbah devised a three-pronged strategy. Fight the opposition, calm the media and control the nation!

In a short span of time, the man from Mianwali silenced them all. He became the first captain from Asia to beat South Africa in an ODI series in their den, defeated India in India in an ODI series, whitewashed the world number 1 England in Tests, became the second captain to win the Asia Cup for Pakistan and recorded the most number of Test victories for his country.

Come 2014, Kiwi batsman Corey Anderson broke Shahid Afridi’s record of fastest hundred by scoring one on 36 balls. Afridi came up with his famous ‘main yeh record wapas le kar rahoonga’ forgetting that same year, during one of his unsuccessful slogging, Umer Akmal was shouting from the other end ‘Lala, Lug nahi rahi tu single le lo’.

The fastest hundred’s record was equaled, in Tests… but not by Afridi. It was 40-year-old Misbah, who pierced through the Aussies attack and scored a 56 ball hundred, equaling Vivian Richards record.

In 2016, Misbah captained Islamabad United to victory in Pakistan Super League. In the knockout match with Peshawar Zalmi, it was a sight when Misbah’s brain was pitted against Afridi’s vain. Afridi, in that match, was no different to the aging Javed Miandad of ‘1996 Bangalore Quarterfinal’. His team required 50 odd runs in 15 balls, everyone knew Afridi in his prime could have done it… but he was not the Afridi of the past, and he was dismissed on the exact same score of 38, same score of Javed in Bangalore 20 years back.

Why Afridi didn’t retire earlier? His record speaks of his desperation. 48 wickets in Tests, 395 in ODI, 97 in 98 T20 matches. One can imagine why a retirement decision is hard to come by.

Coming to Misbah, only Hanif Muhammad, whose 12 hundreds meant NO to DEFEAT. Out of Little Master’s 12 hundreds, 10 tests were drawn and one was won. As for Misbah’s, 7 tests ended in a win and 2 in a draw. In the 2015 World Cup, he was the one who scored 350 runs with an average of 50 in 7 matches. How many times has he saved the batting collapse of Men in Green in an ODI? Ask a non-Pakistani who ‘understands’ cricket.

They say, if you keep quiet, your bat would do the talking. Misbah must have taken the page out from Sachin’s book. One rarely saw Tendulkar, the God of Cricket utter a word while batting. Afridi, rarely kept quiet, so his bat forgot to do the talking. His press conferences are more exciting than his run chases,  and Pakistan has no Talent, as I am the most talented, still!

These threats look good off the field! Just wondering what happened to him in 2015 World Cup. 2 wickets and 100-odd runs in 7 matches! It’s a shame that an entire nation, after 20 years of cricket, is perplexed whether he is a batting all-rounder or a bowling all-rounder.

Just rewind to the moment when Pakistan lost the World Cup Quarter final in 2015 and the meaningful embracing of Shahid Afridi and Ahmed Shahzad. Everyone was watching the moment and the effort put in by the ‘players’. Younis Khan, another player who was asked many a times to leave ODI cricket, Afridi and Misbah retired from ODI.

Misbah and Younis continued to play and excel in Tests. Misbah-ul-Haq was asked by PCB head to continue for another year. Former Coach Geoff Lawson called him a great cricketing mind long before he was a Test Regular. Current coach Mickey Arthur wants him to play forever. Fans regard him a Legend and he has successfully turned his critics into his fans. He handles Media as easily as he plays the reverse sweep.

It’s always the Prince who gets the Fairytale finish! 

Views of the author do not reflect that of Geo News