Misbah Profile

Misbah-ul-Haq      

Pakistan

Full name Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi

Born May 28, 1974, Mianwali, Punjab

Current age 39 years 259 days

Major teams Pakistan, Faisalabad Wolves, Khan Research Labs, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sargodha, St Lucia Zouks

Playing role Middle-order batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Legbreak

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	46	80	14	3218	161*	48.75	7673	41.93	5	25	337	35	37	0
ODIs	141	128	31	4384	96*	45.19	5930	73.92	0	35	293	67	63	0
T20Is	39	34	13	788	87*	37.52	715	110.20	0	3	45	26	14	0
First-class	192	314	38	14057	284	50.93			38	76			180	0
List A	257	234	53	8870	129*	49.00			11	61			118	0
Twenty20	106	94	28	2377	107*	36.01	2001	118.79	1	9	150	94	39	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	46	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
ODIs	141	1	24	30	0	-	-	-	7.50	-	0	0	0
T20Is	39	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
First-class	192		318	242	3	1/2		80.66	4.56	106.0		0	0
List A	257		144	179	1	1/10	1/10	179.00	7.45	144.0	0	0	0
Twenty20	106	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Career statistics

Test debut	New Zealand v Pakistan at Auckland, Mar 8-12, 2001 scorecard
Last Test	Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Sharjah, Jan 16-20, 2014 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	Pakistan v New Zealand at Lahore, Apr 27, 2002 scorecard
Last ODI	Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi, Dec 27, 2013 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	Bangladesh v Pakistan at Nairobi (Gym), Sep 2, 2007 scorecard
Last T20I	England v Pakistan at Abu Dhabi, Feb 27, 2012 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1998/99
Last First-class	Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited v Water and Power Development Authority at Faisalabad, Jan 22-25, 2014 scorecard
List A debut	1998/99
Last List A	Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited v Water and Power Development Authority at Faisalabad, Jan 27, 2014 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Faisalabad Wolves v Peshawar Panthers at Karachi, Feb 24, 2006 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Faisalabad Wolves v Lahore Eagles at Rawalpindi, Feb 11, 2014 scorecard

Recent matches

Bat & Bowl	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date	Scorecard
-	Wolves	v L Eagles	Rawalpindi	11 Feb 2014	T20
12	Wolves	v Leopards	Islamabad	9 Feb 2014	T20
27	Sui Gas	v WAPDA	Faisalabad	27 Jan 2014	LA
101	Sui Gas	v WAPDA	Faisalabad	22 Jan 2014	FC
63, 68*	Pakistan	v Sri Lanka	Sharjah	16 Jan 2014	Test # 2115
1, 97	Pakistan	v Sri Lanka	Dubai (DSC)	8 Jan 2014	Test # 2114
135	Pakistan	v Sri Lanka	Abu Dhabi	31 Dec 2013	Test # 2112
51	Pakistan	v Sri Lanka	Abu Dhabi	27 Dec 2013	ODI # 3450
-	Pakistan	v Sri Lanka	Abu Dhabi	25 Dec 2013	ODI # 3448
40	Pakistan	v Sri Lanka	Sharjah	22 Dec 2013	ODI # 3447

Profile

The most remarkable aspect about Misbah-ul-Haq is his unflappable temperament. It shows in his batting, which reached unprecedented levels of consistency in 2011, and in his captaincy, which helped lift Pakistan from the depths of the spot-fixing saga in England in 2010. Taking over as leader immediately after that episode at the age of 36, Misbah's calm approach was exactly what Pakistan cricket needed after the tumultuous period it had gone through.

As a batsman, Misbah can either defend dourly with unflagging patience, or irritate bowlers with his improvisations. It helps that his defensive technique is sound: that solid foundation has helped him bat for long periods in Test cricket. That aspect of his game was in evidence right from his first Test innings in 2001, when he survived over two hours to score 28 in Auckland. He should have played much more international cricket thereafter, but was held back by his inconsistency. For four years between 2003 and 2007, he didn't play a single Test, and only turned up for a handful of ODIs.

However, a run-filled domestic season, followed by club cricket in England and Inzamam's retirement from ODIs, prompted the board to award Misbah a central contract in July 2007. A month later, he was surprisingly picked, ahead of Mohammad Yousuf, for the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. He repaid the selectors' faith by finishing the tournament as Pakistan's best player and nearly taking them to victory in the final. He continued the good run on the tour to India later that year, scoring two hundreds, each of which spanned more than 400 minutes.

However, it was in 2011 that Misbah truly rose above the crowd and established his credentials as a top-class batsman and a leader of men. He was in charge when Pakistan completed one of their greatest Test series wins - a 3-0 sweep over the then No. 1 side, England in early 2012. Perhaps it's his degree in business management that has helped him manage, and get the best out of, a team as unpredictable as Pakistan.