LAHORE: Lamenting the faulty cricketing system in Pakistan deprives many promising players of due chances, Wasim Bari has acknowledged that despite facing several hurdles Misbah-ul-Haq with his rock-solid consistency has established himself as the country’s best Test captain.

“Yes, unfortunately our systemsomehow does not allow talented cricketers to develop and Misbah is one of its victims. When I was chief selector, Misbah contacted me, asking when he will represent Pakistan. I, on my part, kept advising him ‘continue hard work and you will get the chance’,” Bari, the former Test wicket-keeper, said while talking to Dawn on Friday.

When reminded that during his tenure (2002-2007) as chief selector Misbah seldom got chances, Bari said: “Look, Shoaib Akhtar has complained that both Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were not willing that he [Shoaib] play. Similarly, some batsmen playing for national team at that time [from around early 2001 till 2007] did not want Misbah to become regular part of the team. This has been the feature of our system, which I reckon destroyed career of many talented players in the past.”

After Inzamam-ul-Haq, the current chief selector, whose otherwise illustrious career ended in absolute gloom with Pakistan’s nightmarish exit from the 50-over 2007 World Cup, Misbah returned to the Pakistan team after a four-year hiatus. Misbah had been brought back by the Salahuddin Ahmed Sallu-headed selection committee with Shafqat Rana and Saleem Jaffer as members of the committee.

And then ever since his return to national ranks, Misbah cemented his place in all three formats. In 2010, Ijaz Butt, then PCB chief, installed Misbah as Test captain (for the series against South Africa in the UAE) following the spot-fixing scandal on the England tour that ousted Test skipper Salman Butt who had been given the mantle during the long tour following Afridi’s abrupt resignation as Test captain. A year later, Misbah was also named ODI captain after Shahid Afridi stepped down due to his reported differences with then coach Waqar Younis.

In retrospect, it can be said that Misbah getting the Test and ODI reins was not planned but by chance -- developed by circumstances -- as Ijaz didn’t have any other choice. The regret side: the PCB couldn’t recognise Misbah’s leadership ability for more than ten years after the gentleman had arrived at the international scene!

“Misbah has proved [with his actions] that he is one of the humblest of persons who neither mentioned the miseries he endured nor made any complaint against the system; instead the resolute man kept his focus on the game and finally earned the applause -- he richly deserves -- from across the cricketing world,” Bari stated.

“Of course, Misbah has several qualities which helped him become the most successful captain of Pakistan,” the ex-gloveman underlined.

Bari, who admitted that he as chief selector could not give Misbah fair chance, however, reckoned that it was neither the selectors nor the coaches who develop a player. “In fact, captain is in a better position to develop any cricketer,” he insisted.

Bari added: “Abdul Qadir and Inzamam [as players] might not have succeeded had they not received the support of their captain Imran Khan, who gave them fair chances.”

A captain, who leads from the front always succeeds and Misbah, like Imran Khan, Mushtaq Mohammad and Abdul Hafeez Kardar, has this quality, noted Bari.

Paying tribute to Misbah, Bari said it was Misbah, who like Brendon McCullum, has built a good Test team of Pakistan with hard work.

“Why is Pakistan currently struggling in limited-overs cricket? Just because we do not have good enough captains in ODI and T20 who could lead from the front,” he lamented.

Commenting on Misbah’s century in the ongoing Test at Lord’s, Bari termed it the skipper’s best, noting it was made under high pressure. “Top four wickets were down and he with Asad Shafiq stabilised the innings against a strong team like England.”

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2016