OTD | Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was born in 1974

It was the same day as May 28 50 years back in 1974, a guy born in a Muslim-Punjabi family of Mianwali, in Pakistan’s Punjab who later became one the greatest assets ever in the history of Pakistan Cricket. Here we’re talking about none other than the former Pakistan skipper and one of the most elegant batters who ever played for Pakistan both in red-ball and white-ball cricket, Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi. 

Misbah was also known as the guy to ‘stand out in crisis’ for Pakistan in the crucial matches during the marquee international tournaments. However, he failed to cross the line a couple of times but still his ‘fighting spirit’ earned a lot of appreciation from the cricket experts and fans of the game. 

Besides his numerous achievements in international cricket, one of the ‘infamous’ memories associated with the name of Misbah-ul-Haq was his failed ‘attempt to play a ‘scoop shot’ against India in the iconic Final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2007 that went on to cost him the title for Pakistan in the inaugural edition of the tournament. 

An illustrious and celebrated career of almost 2 decades

Speaking of his international career for Pakistan, Misbah made his international debut in 2001 in the Auckland Test against New Zealand, followed by making his ODI debut in 2002 in Lahore and his T20I debut in Nairobi in 2007. 

The right-hander played 75 Tests, 162 ODIs, and 39 T20Is for Pakistan, scoring 5222 runs with an average of 46.62, 5122 ODI runs with an average of 46.40 and 788 T20I runs with an average of 37.52. He also scored 10 centuries and 39 half-centuries in Tests, alongside 42 half-centuries in ODIs and 3 half-centuries in T20Is, respectively. 

Notably, he was also a part of the Pakistan team that became the champion in the ICC T20 World Cup 2009, the second edition of the tournament. During the 2009 edition, the former T20 World Champion batted in 4 innings and scored 82 runs with an average of 27.3

Also read: Sri Lanka’s all-time great Mahela Jayawardene was born in 1977