The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed Misbah-ul-Haq as captain until the 2015 World Cup, but the man himself has admitted that he may not be at the helm of affairs come next year’s ODI championship.
Speaking to The National after Pakistan’s one-run loss to Australia on Sunday, a game from which he excused himself owing to a lean run of form which coincided with four straight defeats in the 50-over format, Misbah said that not being in charge of the team at the World Cup is a distinct possibility.
“Yes, I have no other intention. But, obviously, I will have to see over the next few Tests because form and runs are very important,” said the 40-year-old batsman. “If I am not scoring runs and my form is not there then I can’t say I have to play. The team and Pakistan are first. If I can get my form back and score runs then I will be back but if not then, obviously, you can’t put the team in such a difficult situation and you have to decide.”
Pakistan have had a torrid time in the past couple of months. They lost the ODI and Test series in Sri Lanka and have lost the T20I and ODI series to Australia. Misbah last scored a fifty in the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka but has struggled since then, and after another scoring 0 in the second ODI against Australia last week, opted to sit out of the third game in Abu Dhabi.
Pakistan play two Tests against Australia next but the pressure on the PCB to keep faith in Misbah will increase following the 3-0 ODI loss, undoubtedly. The PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan has acknowledged that potential successors were already being assessed, but Misbah chose to play down speculation that the board had pressurised him so step down from the third ODI.
“I requested the management and Shahid [Afridi] myself that I want to step down,” he said. “We have a month and a half of Tests ahead and my form was out, the team was hurting because of it and we had lost the series so I thought, fine, let another guy play in my place. Instead of going into the Tests with more pressure I can focus on this little gap now to get a little fresh and hopefully get my form back.”
In ten ODIs this year, Misbah averages 22.50. He managed just 67 runs in the 2-1 series defeat in Sri Lanka and 0 and 15 in the two defeats against Australia in the current series.
