Aghas Akbar
He is still very much there, at 38 the patriarch of the Pakistan Test and ODI outfits. But in a manner of speaking, with the elevation of Mohammad Hafeez as captain of the newest of the three international formats, the Twenty20, and as his deputy in the other two, the baton indeed has been passed on.
It is not as if Misbah, despite being on the wrong side of the thirties, is going to fade away into oblivion anytime soon. Yet it is better to know who is going to be in charge when he is gone in the fullness of time – maybe by the end of 2013, if things go according to plan.
Considering the vagaries of Pakistan cricket, a year and a half is a very long time and this indeed is a big if.
The move though has many positives.
For the first time since the calamitous events of summer of 2010 in England, a clear succession plan is in place – to be carried out in phases. But the anointment of Hafeez as the leader of the pack for one of the three squads is the starting point, the first cautious step that may seem abrupt but perhaps is quite well considered and taken by powers-that-be after dwelling on it long and hard.
And rightly so, for in the context of Pakistan cricket, succession plans have an invariable tendency of going awry. To mention two from recent memory: Salman Butt (in 2010 after being groomed for the job from the age-group events for about 10 years) and prior to him Younus Khan’s turbulent on-again, off-again experience between 2007-09 after which the mercurial Pathan temporarily lost his place in the side and never aspired for the job again.
Would this time round be any different? Quite likely so, and there are reasons for this optimism.
One, this is no reckless, imprudent experimentation – a la Ijaz Butt’s many during his three-year long demolition of Pakistan cricket, literally before every important rubber.
At the press conference organized to break the news, in addition to announcing the three teams for the Sri Lanka tour of May-June 2012, the PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf was profuse in his praise for Misbah. Actually he seemed almost embarrassed and apologetic at making the strategic move.
Though Misbah sounded slightly miffed, for he perhaps did not anticipate the step-down at this juncture, the noises he made could not have been more correct.
But then coming from a person who had restored the respect and dignity to the position of the Pakistan captain, and in the process of Pakistan cricket, this should not have come to one as a surprise.
For the media, the criticism on his not-being-so spectacular in terms of his personal form, his tuk tuk, his losing the most recent Twenty20 rubber 2-1 against England already stood momentarily forgotten at the press conference. Maybe the media’s whining at his removal from one third, albeit most spectacular part, of our cricket stemmed from the calm that permeated during Misbah’s tenure. He was thus being missed before he had actually gone – going by a Punjabi saying the best time to leave is when the mela is at its prime.
As for Misbah, he showed his characteristic calm and grace, taking it all in his stride. “It’s not for me to crib. For so long I was ignored as a cricketer. But whenever I got the opportunity I tried to contribute to the team’s cause to the best of my ability. I’d continue to focus on the job the Board has entrusted me. I’d give it my best shot”.
Ever the pragmatic, even if the Board or its chairman was expecting him to quit the Twenty20 brand for good, Misbah was unwilling to oblige: “I’d play Twenty20 at the domestic level, and try to make a comeback”.
Even if making it to the Pakistan Twenty20 squad was not the idea, Misbah was definitely clued in enough to realize that quitting it altogether will deprive him of the lucrative windfall that is likely to accrue from participation in a slew of leagues that are sprouting everywhere in the sub-continent – with our own PPL too likely to commence perhaps later this year.
The is a measure of the man that he let others speak about his achievements, about his wonderful stabilizing influence in perhaps the most traumatic period in our history – without so much as a hint of gloating about it or regret at his break from the T20 squad.
And the mutual respect and camaraderie that he shared with Hafeez at the press conference was not just for appearances’ sake, and neither did the two sound part of a mutual appreciation club. This was genuine, coming-from-the-heart stuff. “I’ve learned a lot from Misbah. He’s a great mentor. As his vice-captain, I’d continue to learn from him”.
This phenomenon, the skipper and the understudy working in harness, instead of at cross-purposes which has hitherto been the norm, is a welcome new and reassuring direction for Pakistan cricket.
‘The Professor’, a good understudy
‘The Professor’, as the 31-year old Hafeez is so called for his eye for forensic detail, profound knowledge of the game and clear-headed analysis. He is indeed a good choice for the helm, now and for the future.
Waqar Younis, not one to indulge in praise where it is not due, has hailed Hafeez’s nomination as first among equals. And Waqar should know for he is intimately aware of all the characters past and present in and around the Pakistan team, and also because he was the coach in whose stint Pakistan cricket found its feet again post September 2010 until September 2011 (when he resigned because he had run out of patience in suffering Ijaz Butt).
“I think it’s a good move to give him the captaincy first in the shortest format. It would have been unwise to throw him at the deep end in the longer formats. He is a fine choice, the right choice and I wish him success,” said Waqar.
For his success, to Waqar there was one qualifier, though, and it reflected in his advice to the seniors with captaincy aspirations amongst the lot: “to put personal ambition aside and extend full support to Hafeez”.
No prizes for guessing who Waqar is talking about.
The Afridi phenomenon
This brings us to Shahid Afridi’s unrequited passion for captaincy – at least in overs-limited formats. Despite having messed up far more often than he has been a success at it, his pitch for the top job is almost irresistible – and the one that is brought to bear comes from across the aisle of the otherwise bitter ethnic divide in the southern megapolis. Afridi’s nous for and savvy in media control could indeed teach the best of them a lesson or two.
This time round too the campaign to recapture the prized position involved intrigue and pressure, but the PCB somehow managed to resist it. All to the good, for despite many positives about Afridi the cricketer, he has a quite unsettling impact in the dressing room. And he has captain enough times already.
How he behaves in this transitional period of reconstruction for Pakistan cricket remains to be seen, but in not bowing to him on the captaincy issue, the Board has made its intent clear: disruptive influences will be discouraged. This is a pretty decent message, but the proof of intent will come when this resolve is tested.
Sri Lanka, not so easy on home soil
The Sri Lanka promises to be a tough one indeed. Most of the hosts’ leading exponents are in top form – which was quite evident in the IPL. And the ones out of the Indian spectacle, only because they were nursing injuries, such as Angelo Mathews, have since recovered and are fighting fit.
Can Pakistan’s bowling – with Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul leading the pack and Mohammad Sami back from the wilderness along with a pretty decent support cast can walk all over Mahela’s men and notch something similar to Dubai six months ago?
Well, if Pakistan gets into its groove early and stays at their throats, even then it seems quite improbable. For Misbah and Hafeez, Pakistan’s just maintaining its rubber-winning sequence would be high achievement.
