Why let go someone like misbah? When you hardly can find some one to replace him.

Tendulkar won world cup man and and his score against Pakistan 80runs were the only to beat pakistan in Worldcup semis U can compare Sachin with anyone even Don Bradman,,

he did a good job but i strongly believe it is time for him to go from one day side.but keep him as captain in test untill further notice.

I am not agree with Habib Zaman regarding Misbah Should remain in the team why what is current performance did he make any century or he can make may in test when tendulkar is out ricky ponting is out then why not Misbah

See the record because of his Tuk Tuk (that is why is his calling Chacha-e- Tuk Tuk) the Pakistan team lost the pace for making runs and at the end we have to hit it or lose it situation in all the matches he played well or score runs and that make unnecessary pressures to the batsmen next to him

It is about time the management start inducing young blood for 2015 world cup and groom a good talented pool of players, as we do not now who might not be available at that time due to injury or lack of form. Misbah Ul haq, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal have had their day , On performance alone the have no place in the side.

Nops,i think hafeez is grooming under Misbah and it sh0uld be misbah's call whenever he wants to step aside.y0u have mentioned the test score of misbah in this series but y0u havent mentioned that he was highest run getter in 2012 and the way he captained the side.i think it should be his call when he wants to retire.and pakistani ppl wants hitter not a solid batsman.so we shouldnt think of pakistani ppl and think about speciality.in last odi he was only one staying on crease and when he left we lost match.

i think its time the captaincy baton should be passed to Hafeez.. he has been doing a great job and has matured alot in a very short time.... he has all the guts to lead from the front..his confidence is booming... he c an be a great captain for world cup 2015... i think following changes are required before the world cup... get rid of umer akmal and include asad shafiq. azhar ali to come 2 or 3 down. find a replacement of Kamran akmal aka kam-aqal include abdul raqak in place of shahid afridi on permanent basis. in this case we wud have 4 seamers.. 2 spin bowlers.. the batting line will have depth with shoaib malik as a senior player... and abdul razzaq for slogging if required. we are in need of a genuine all rounder in the depth.. if we can find a better all rounder then razzaq can also be replaced.

Why only Misbah? Why not Kamran Akmal? Did you remember his last innings other than that he played against India in a Warm-up game last year? I guess he has been an non performing asset for pakistan!! Pakistan cricket will not flourish untill politics of favoritism is there!!

A ridiculous article especially at a time when a Pakistani skipper has won his biggest chaenge- a series in India. Is this being done deliberately to undermine the most successful captain in recent years and perhaps since Imran Khan. Has Dawn no shame in needlessly stirring trouble. Had a dasher like Afridi won 7 series out of 9 would we be having this debate! Please DONT FIX WHATS NOT BROKEN!!!!!

Misbah is the only player in pakistan team who by virtue of his slow batting resulted in defeats when winning was so easy and target score were low due to pakistan excellent bowling. The best example was semifinal of odi world cup in India against India when Indian team got out for low score and misbah played so slow to result in loss and there are many such examples. I have never seen him winning for pakistan rather he has been instrumental in converting easy wins into defeats. He is taken as specialist batsman but have never performed a match winning inning. As a fielder he is pathetic, the latest example when he dropped Dhoni at 16 and Dhoni went onto make century which win him mom in current series with India

Misbah should gracefully retire from ODI this is the best chance, winning a series in India against India he will not get better opportunity to become a Hero, next is south Africa you do not want to take a chance. Induct young players in the side you will have a fierce competition there, Younus, Misbah & Omar Gul is not suited for ODI. Best of luck Pak Team & PCB Pier Wasif

considering the replacement for Misbah (Hafeez), I would stick with misbah for the time being. Hafeez has still a lot to prove in his batting. Series against India was his successful series as a batsman. A batting average of 30's after being in team for an eternity is just not good enough. He is a terrific bowler but that is his secondary skill. He needs to become more consistent in his batting. Knowing Pakistan team, a change in captaincy for the sake of next world cup is un called for. The team could very well disintegrate very close to the world cup which has happened everytime since 1999. I m all for misbah at the moment.

Two things out of this series...first we need a wicketkeeper that team can depend upon (no drop catches...should not try half heartily attempts to a slip catch if the slip fielder in place..this happened in the last game and in previous series...where Akmal tried to half heartily to attempt slip catches which make it impossible for slip fielder to focus on thus missing a golden opportunities for taking wicket. Secondly...Misbah captaincy...does he lead from the front? It appears that he is only Fielding side Captain but when it comes to batting he is favoring the opponent. Simple rule is to rotate strike. By blocking middle over with four to five dot ball in each over gives your opponent chance to come back in the game. This is what really happened in the last game...The required run rate was less than 4/over...but eventually turn out to be 8+/over. I see that Misbah belongs to old school of thought which is completely correct and that is to provide stability in the middle order batting line up without losing wicket...but I guess he is missing the golden rule and that is to keep rotating the strike

Infact, Misbah ul Haq does not deserve to be in the ODI team, If one has got a little sense of cricket, just have a look at the ODI series that pakistan won against india, if Nasir would not have performed Pakistan would have lost the series by 3 -0. Now if you observe the 3rd ODI played on 5th January, Misbah was the one who burried the other players under pressure. No doubt Misbah has a very solid defence but his biggest weakness is that he cannot rotate the strike like any other batsman in the Pakistan team. So, Misbah should only be playing test cricket.

Stick with Misbah - the man whose value to the team is in terms of leadership, by helping others relax and play to their true potential. If we are thrilled with the performances of Jamshed, Hafeez, Junaid and Irfan, a lot of the credit goes to Misbah. He has given them the stage to freely express themselves, much like the great Kardar knew how to get the best from his players. He has brought back dignity to the sport in Pakistan, and his conduct is impeccable. Mellow Misbah, and his team of merry warriors - they played against India in such a sporting manner - compare that to what we have seen with the behavior of an Australian champion bowler towards a guest West Indian batsman in their country today.

He is a player with such a pathetic mindset that I can't recall I have ever seen any such player in the Pakistani ranks in the recent times. He is just riding too much on Ajmal's excellence and his career's peak period. A lot had been said about his captaincy but what has he done with that even, give Ajmal few overs and he will do the trick. Any other captain would have done the same. Less said is better about his batting skill. Simply pathetic and spineless. He has got such a coward approach to his batting that anyone will hate. He has spread his dirty influence onto some of the young players as well. Now there is no certainity that Pakistan will win an ODI. They are increasingly finding ways to defeat even when the bowlers create a chance for certain victory for their team.With his approach the team can win few matches here and there but will always lose high voltage matches. I hope people still remember that this man was the reason behind Pakistan not winning 2011 WC which I think they should have very easily if he was not part of that team.

Yes i agree, if he cant play WC in 2015 than NO POINT in holding him on top of team,yes there should be a transaction period where the new captain should work along with him as vice captain for some times until he releave this role and new Captain take over...Every one has to go one day,so going after the Indian series would make a hero for life, like Imran Khan left after Winning WC and he is still in our minds and hearts...all the best PCB

Misbah has a basic strategy - wait for the weak bowler and then try and score. Granted he stops the wicket falling but the man gets so frozen at the crease that he wastes all the balls, doesnt take runs and puts pressure on the rest of the line up with the resulting increase in run rate. In short he ends up shooting himself and the rest of the team in the foot. A captain's success is only based on the talent of his team.In this regard he has been lucky. The last India-Pakistan match poured water into the expectation of the team performing professionally with the trophy now feeling like copper rather than silver.

I think we should drop Umar Akmal before Misbah. If Misbah leaves prematurely the players will start fighting to become the captain like it happened after Imran. We need to wait and see how he perfroms in SA. It is too early to judge his performance in a short series. Plus he is needed in the test for another year atleast if he can score some runs.

Being a captain is a full-time role in itself. He shouldn't go as long as he's delivering as a captain. England kept Mike Brearley as Skipper for as long as possible despite the fact that he never scored a Test century and that his batting average was 22.88, just because he was too good a captain. Misbah's batting is twice as good as Mike's and his record is captain is also very good. So I think Mishbah should be retained as captain until 2015 world cup. Though I will be surprised if that happens because change in leadership is one of the infamous traits of Pakistan.

hafeez should captain ODI and T20, while Misbah should handle Tests for sometime and should groom someone like Jamshed as Test Captain in 2 years because pakistan need young leaders..

Younas khan can be a better choice as captain but Misbah can only go if does not perform well as a batsman like in this series.. As a batsman he should be given more chances.. at least to make hid maiden century in ODIs

Definitely, Tuk Tuk Captain....Misbah MUST go, we have Hafeez as a genuine captain. Get Razzaq also in the team.Make Hafeez's team a great team with Ajmal, Junaid, Irfan, Umar Gul. Jamshed, A.Razzaq, A. Rehman. We really missed that young boy, our fast bowler who is under suspension because of London affair. Just imagine, if he was there in recent games with India, the history would have been different... PCB, must move fast and get the ban released for this promising young boy... And what about Abdul Rehman, where is he.???? Yunus, Wicket Keepr Kamran Akmal, India' Jamai Raj Shoaib Malik, Azhar must also be sent out. Give a final warning to Umar Akmal, no show, U go.... All the Best to Pak Team...Iqbal Hussain. (USA)

The question is not when eas the last time he scored a half century? The question is when was the last time he was one of the top scorers in the team? Which has been most of the cases. If we start looking at half centuries then MOST of the team needs to go except for Nasir Jamshed. He is a leader - someone with a direction - and no erratic behaviour.

i think he realizes he has to go as he may not be around the next world cup. but he should be allowed to make the decision when to leave. he has played a part in pakistan's progress. he deserves respect.

Misbah is leading the Pakistan side so sucessfully for the last 2 years .The team is also looking so united together under him . So why changing this successful leader . As a batsman he is not in great form but it can be just a matter of time and he may regain his old touch . Regarding his age , I dont think age matters that much if one is fit and have confidence in his abilities . Look at greats like Miadad , Lara , Steve Wuagh , Inzamum all has played good cricket at forties . It is unnecessary to make any chances when the team is performing so well . Stick to Misbah as a leader and let him groom the youngsters under him to make Pak a great side in all the versions of the game .

Misbah has significant contribution in rebuilding the team after the spot fixing fiasco. A job very well done but the time has come to move on and Misbah should hang up the ODI boots. Misbah's style of batting to consume too many balls and try to slog in the last few overs hasn't worked for the most part and in some cases has cost the games.. Perhaps calling it a day from the ODIs after the South Africa tour will be a wise move otherwise chances are he will be axed from the ODIs sooner or later.

Lets get rid off the one good thing in Pakistan cricket after people like Afridi wimped out during the betting scandal in the UK. Does the person writing this column not realize that captaincy is not statistics; that is what your stars are expected to deliver. Is Misbah close to the end of an international career; no doubt if we had a better cricketing administration he would have been eased out or been only a part-timer but at this time Pakistan need consistency and continuity. On the captaincy front a couple of suggestions: Can we stop trying to put all of our eggs in one basket (ie Hafeez) and have a pipeline of players with the people skills, demeanor, ability and not least media savvy .Quick side note: ask the captains to speak in Urdu out of pride and if English is not a strong suit; it is the board's job to provide them with a 'qualified' interpreter if needed. The board needs to work with the domestic cricket teams to help encourage qualified candidates to be captain of their teams; too often we have used this as a sinecure for senior (read older) players. Having said that kudos to the selectors who selected and'older' player like Saeed Ajmal; who have patiently nurtured Mohammad Irfan and please keep up the great work. Lastly if you will let me indulge in a pet peeve and speaking of consistency we can count on Kamran Akmal to be the worst wicket keeper over the last two years and costing his team games how about getting rid of the Akmal clan for the next two series? It might actually help at least Umar and perhaps Adnan concentrate instead of assuming that they were automatic selections.

Would you kindly point out some of Misbah's great match winning innings??

Yes let him go and call him back if there ever is a game called T200

Dude, no one is reading your essay here

Please dont judge a player on his age---in usa its called age discrimination, take him for his performance only---Has there been any other captain with so many wins??????????????

I feel Hafeez is ready.He has shown all the qualities that are required in a good captain.A captain is required to lead from the from. Hafeez has been doing well with the ball for a long time and of late has started delivering with the bat as well.So, although Pakistan cricket owes Misbah a lot, now it's time to move on.

Misbah is a great player, he has helped Team Pakistan to achieve great heights in cricket but now I think he should give ways to youngsters & retire from fast track game of 20 20 & ODI. He can still be a valuable contributor in test matches but for the short version of the game he simply don't fit in anymore

Very lame argument and pretty old school. What do you want from a ''successful'' captain? A century in every match , a run rate of 60 and last ball sixer in every match and not to mention victory of course. Was Imran that consistent with his form? or have you seen any captain with all these qualities. God you guys are talking about captain of Pak cricket team not captain America. What if M Hafeez stops performing after he becomes the captain ? then !!!! will we look for another one until we find ''The captain America'' lol .Get a life guys.

Silly article. Misbah has been the anchor for a disciplined Pakistani team. Like Kardar, he is not a great batsman but is a good leader. 21 wins out of 34 is a brillant record. The problem is who do you replace this stalwart with? Lets celebrate Misbah and Pakistani victory while we have him.

Agree with you, Roomi..... it is ridiculous to talk about Misbah's removal. He is a calm and patient captain and has kept most players united. It is wrong to look at a captain's batting or bowling performance alone. Captains may not perform brightly in one sector alone. It is because of a good captain, like Misbah, that other players pitch in very well.

It is a hopeless feature by Dawn. Misbah has performed at all levels and his Test and ODI are its evidence. We Pakistanis never give justice to honest people or appreciate them. that is the reason the Pakistani Nation has elected Asif Ali Zardari as its Presdent and is going to reelect him soon! Does anybody remember that the previous Pakistani Captain was match fixing and spent time in Jail? Lets thank Misbah for all he has done for this country. He is the best captain. Naim

Liaqaut.... I agree with you. These Akmals should be jettisoned as soon as possible.

The writer swiftly puts all blame on Misbah and hides the most visible failure of Akmal brothers. Writer also does not talk about 'sifarish culture' that keeps Imran Farhat and Sohail Tanveer in the team even after repeated terrible performances on continuous basis. We have too many writers these days who themselves are result of sifarish culture

cldnt have said it better

He is one of the most successful captain of Pakistan team. We should discuss the future of Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal and Kamran Akmal, who are given zillion chances since two years and haven't performed. Misbah should lead the team for one more year till we find good middle order batsmen.

I feel Misbah have till now good energy to stay for 100 overs a day, for cricket you need skills & energy, and if he is able to give that atleast as a captain then why we should change a winning combination. some emotional media who are usually audience and selling their ratings but none of them ever hold a bat in an international arena, they will always demand attack and sixers at all times, I played cricket so i know that even u r V. Richard or Adam Ghilchrist, you need to be skillful otherwise u just throwing your wicket away, see Dehli pitch, bounce, moisture, turn & most important pressure of that game you needed more Misbah their, I thought he done his work their after losing two early wickets,finishing role is responsibility of all team not one batsman or captain only. I wish success to the best team and players who have skills and sense to play cricket

I agree its time for Mibah to go. The bigest favor board will do to get rid of Akmal brothers, they have not perform atleast in las 20 games and still get selected . I don't remember any other player was selected if did he not performed consistently in two or three games. So Please get rid of Akmal and get a new kipper.

Like always. Pakistan celebrates the victory but always forgets to rectify the problems and do not want changes. They go by experienced players. The fact is that the experienced players of pakistan specially the batsmen like younus khan, misbah, etc deliver once in 4-5 years . The main reason is that they dont have the batting talent that is required for this generation. Anyone can keep the ball at crease and try to run. The talent is when u can hit boundaries on good balls or atleast create opportunities by putting pressure on the bowlers. In my opinion, misbah, younus khan, shoab malik and Akmal brothers need to go and new batch of players should step in. Hafeez can guide them. Harris sohail, umar amin , asad shafiq should step in. Atleast these new players looks like a batsman playing. Younus and misbah dont even look like batsmen. i dont think just becasue misbah captained the side in the tough times, that the team has done good. There are a lot of other factors involved including waqar younus and even the code of conduct that got more strict since the spot fixing, all contributed to improvement. Last but not the least, umar akmal should be axed from this side ASAP. He has a habit of playing really silly shots when the team needs him. This has happened repeatedly. Why is this going unnoticed. How many times will these players play with confidence and pride of so many people. Assalaam

Mr. Captain knowing well the leg trap why did you repeated your shots till you got out.. Do you have an explanation?

I totall agree with Liaqat. It is not about scoring runs and hitting fours and sixes, its about keeping the team together and moving forward. He might not be batting at his best but he definitely has groomed the team. You can see a clear change. I dont see the point of his article. We take everything as disposable, when the need is done, just get rid of it? Respect our captain and let him decide when he feels he should go. I'm sure Misbah is not the sort who would want to hold onto it for no reason!

You are right Mr Raj. Unfortunately just like Tendulkar , mostly whenever Misbah stayed longer we didn't win. Dhoni is exceptional. I'll call Dhoni a match winner bu not true for Misbah and Tendulkar.

Very well said Zulifiqar. Problem is, many people dont understand cricket so they wont understand what you said.

Is it time for Misbah to go? Yes, please! Have mercy on our lonely Sports. Also, please take Akmal bros and Shoaib Mirza with you. We shall be so much grateful.

Misbah must go but Hafeez is not the right replacement.

changes are already in the process,I assume after watching Hafeez to speak to media.But we should give credit to Misbah for what he had done in his capacity as a captain,He is a man with a brain.

Misbah better stay at home !!! He has not even a place in team !

Of course he MUST GO

I think Misbah has provided decent stability, calm and needed wins to the team. I would agree he may not have put on great performances in the recent past but whatever contribution he has done with the bat in trying times has actually helped the team. There is no justification of a new captain in the Test and ODI side as he has made the team gel as a unit and gave wonderful results

Only God knows that why few people /media say Afridi to stay and Misbah to say Goodbye,these players have no senses or pride or self concious or self respect to asses their performance and say good bye .I feel so sorry for Misbah who was kept waiting for years to find place.PCB is also courage less.

I think Misbah is the smartest cricketer in the Pakistan team. I personally felt that as long as Misbah was out and batting, Pakistan could win the last match. When he got out, I felt that no body other could stablise/guid the team to victory. Regardless of his slow pace batting, he put a high price on his wicket. He need to be in the team to teach that trade to others, else we will just have Akmal's mentality.

Misbah is a good player and more fitter than others. His problem has been he is not part of T20 which puts him at disadvantage. Other problem is he is too cautious because of his age and does not like to take RISKS. Pakistan DOES NOT HAVE HIS REPLACEMENT. He should stay until Hafeez proves his worth.

It looks the 3rd one day match was fixed and thrown by Pakistani batsmen, specially, Mohammed Hafeed, Kamran Akman, Younus Khan and their associates. If an expert comittee from cricket giants looks how these batsmen played it will be discovered they were acting like 12th men of the Indian side. These batsmen deliberately thrown the match and should be investigated and if found guilty then they have to face same punishment Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir faced.

It would be more joyfull for me after wining series if Misbah announced his retirement before the 3rd ODI against India that was a golden oppurtunity for him for the graceful retirement and would be in mind and hearts of his small lovers. If he is unable to make decision about himself how come he could lead country.. That for sure he would not be bable play next world cup than how far he can stretch his innings this is so beletant and obvious

No doubt Misbah stats show he has won more games then he lost but I don't remember him winning any game on his own for Pakistan. He messed up the first T20 world cup final where he could not take one run off last two deliveries. In this series his performance was bad, the first ODI India crumbled but Dhoni tried make a game out of it by taking total to 227, Pak started off with Hafeez clean bowled on 1st delivery and then Azhar Ali got out cheaply. Younis and Jamshed took score to around 133 where Younis got out and there was no pressure on Pak as such and Misbah after playing 24 balls made only paltry 16. Second ODI Openers gave fabulous start and it looked as if we might score 300 but here again Misbah got out at 2 playing 5 deliveries. Last ODI no one could have imagined Pak will lose this match and loose a golden chance of a whitewash, what the captain did after settling in and playing 82 balls for 39 he threw his wicket playing a shot on wide ball down the leg side. He took all the time in the world to settle in and threw his wicket? He also dropped a catch of Dhoni in 1st ODI when he was at 16 and he end up scoring a century. Ok the last ODI, three players are to be blamed who threw there wickets, literally threw them and they were N. Jamshed, U Akmal and Misbah. I think U Akmal is another guy who should be rested so he does not think he will be selected automatically. You need a cricketing brain to complement your batting and unfortunately he seems itchy to get out. Misbah will be 39 in another couple of months, we have to admit that in today's competitive cricket one has to be very agile and quick which he is not and this is natural. He should call it a day or at most remain test captain until new chap is groomed in for that position. I don't see any harm in making Hafeez captain of T20 and ODI.

Misbah has always been an excessive baggage on the team, to my understanding Misbah, Yonus and whoever is not performing should be suspended or should not be included in ODI's and T20's. It is about time that we inject the team with more youngster who have passion and love for the game. Not player who would only play for money abroad but in PCB they are just go TUK TUK.......Hafeez, Junaid, Irfan, Ajmal and Nasir Jamshed have proven to be good in the series and should be used more often. Rest we need to get the old, wastage of time and ball like Misbah, Yonus, Afridi and Umer Gul to be repalced ASAP.

No his presence is must for Pakistan. We react quickly without realizing that Pakistan

In ODI matches, we need a player who steady the innings otherwise it is difficult to built a good score. It becomes necessary when you face a fast attack. Misbah fulfil this requirement. If he chip to bat and takes singles in the middle of the innings, we will be able to build a good score at the end.

do we have replacement for him....a man who could represent and speak on the behalf of Pakistan with thouht and language fluency without language and grammer mistakes and finally without fear of being called to an interview after good performance because of the language handicap... it is one of the issue though but an important one..................

simple words for the PCB & Selection Gurus, please let go og Misbah, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal & Omar Gul they are total waste in ODI & t20, we are loosing matches because of these brainless morons with lame excuses.

his role as a leader who put perspective and solidity into a team which was nothing less than a mad house when he took over the captaincy is seriously under valued in Pakistan.

Misbah is good to keep calm in the dressing room but his personal role as a batsman and fielder is to be replaced him as soon as possible. He should play like Dhoni as a captain in the crises. Not only Misbah, we should think also about Kamran Akmal. A wicket keeper should also be a strength to the batting side but Kamran's performance is questionable since long time. His admirers, particularly Rameez Raja who uses the mike all the time to praise Akmal brothers, should not make his present Indian tour as a keeper to keep his stay further more in the team. There are lot of good wicket keepers batsmen in the domestic teams those should be tried.

Mike Brearley played cricket from 1976-1980 and we are in 2013. ODI cricket has changed alot my friend.

We won first 2 ODIs as Misbah failed to stay at the wicket long enough to cause the damage. Unfortunately, he did stay at the wicket for some time in the 3rd ODI and result was the same what happens when he tries to "stabilize" the inning. Misbah tries to play a "match saving" inning in a format in which you don't SAVE the match, you WIN or LOSE.

Any captain has to earn a place in the side as a player first, which Misbah doesn;t deserve. He should not be in ODI team, as a player or Captain. What is the use of him providing so called stability to middle order when it ends in a loss for the team. There are players like Asad Shafiq, Soahail Haaris, Umar Amin and others who deserve a longer run in Pak team and I'm sure the investment will deliver results. Iqbal Qasim, please show Misbah the door, we have enough of his negativity.

Though stats may favor Misbah but it is noticeable to mention that his wins are not the result of any intelligent captaincy or creative thinking. Instead in most cases his captaincy has proved to be very old-fashioned and lethargic at best. Often times his field setting is very traditional style, choice of bowler's spell is very traditional, his own batting approach slows down the whole pace of run-making. If you look at this current India series, the win was achieved by heroics of Junaid, Irfan and Nasir and Ajmal. Misbah doesn't give any chance at to new players to gradually fit in and participate e.g. Anwar was a sitting bowler throughout the series who could have been given at least one chance to show his potential. Another bastman sohail was a sitting audience throughout the whole tournament who also could have been given one chance. This is not the first time Mr. Misbah has demonstrated his lethargic and non-creative style of captaincy, and yet continues in the same pattern without any sign of change.

Totally agree. Dawn has always been very biased towards Misbah, probably because Afridi was their blue-eyed boy and of course, it is difficult for this Newspaper to understand what "Leadership" is all about. And this is coming right on the heels after we win a series in INDIA. Shame on you, DAWN! I expected better from this Newspaper.

You must be laughing.There is no culture of retiring at right time and with grace in Pakistan. There are few exceptions though i.e. Imran retired gracefully after 92 worldcup. But why only to blame players ? Politicians, Judges, Army Chiefs, Civil Servants, Columnists no body wants to retire. If you ask Misbah, he'll say I am fit to play Twenty20. I can bet he is not happy that Hafiz is twenty20 Captain. During 2012/13 Faisal Bank Twenty20 cup who captained Faisalabad ? Misbah.

PCB Must Invest in Future It is absolutely the right time to fully appreciate PCB and Pakistani cricket team for basically two achievements. Firstly, for winning the ODI series against India 2-1 and secondly, for completing a very sensitive tour, absolutely incident free. Now, this is also very appropriate time for the PCB, to finalise its short and long term future plans, with regard to the policy of categorising players for the teams for Test

PCB should look into transitioning Misbah's captaincy to Hafeez now so we have a solid base by the time we start preparing for next World Cup. Misbah is a huge burden in middle order and he has no place in team as a batsman. Its time he retire gracefully from this format of the game and he may have a place in Test team for couple of years. He has let us down hugely in Mohali and also in this 3 one day series in India, the lad doesn't deserve to be in one day side.

Misbah - in essence believes in defensive approach which is evident in the games we have played. His decision of not changing the side to include a youngster in the dead rubber (against India) shows it all. He is just not ready to take the risk, which might be very helpful in future. While his strategy has worked in past when team wanted a safe method to save (not win) matches, he, I feel is not the right man to steer the unit to no 1 spot. Had he been a 27-28 years old chap we could have given him leverage of time to learn and lead the side to great victories, but he is now in his late thirties and merely a year or two can be added to his stretched career.

Dude is there any One day match were Misbha has scored 100 and won a match on his own...Naaa betaa naa Learn from Dhoni how he won world cup for us coming on top your misbha is true duk if he scores pak looses if he dont score than pak wins ...u can see 1st and 2nd one day he didnt batted that many dot deliveries and pak won.. ha haahaa come to Ms Dhoni he will teach u Lion heart game.. and captaincy.....

Thats true Lubna ...He is the first non-perfoming captain u can see greame smith he didnt formed he left captaincy becoz no self respect if u dont perform as a captain........Send misbha to India to learn from Mahiiii how to b a brave captain and a real performer winning for country

Roomi its was a bilateral series as Zadarii and zaka were crying to play against us....

Fehima Afridi has won matches against strong teams with ballers like fauiled umar gul cheema or some dumm ballers Misbha has got good ballers Junaid who won match otherwise it wud have been a cake walk for India to play against pakistan and Misbha only likes to play as captain wen he not captaining he makes Pak to loose he is a borring selfish living only to b a captain not a good performer ...not for winning matches loosing matches learn from Dhoni how to make up the balls u waste see Dhonis batting in 2nd one day first he played very slow later he matches his runs with bat thats a lion not a rat like misbha who wastes balls and gets out without making a big scores just wasting deliveries and putting huge pressure to the team/...

tell me one match which misbha stablised the innings with tuk tuk batting later leveled the score a won not a single if Misbha stays for long time than Umar Gul at the end has to score 12runs in 1 ball ......

Shoaib is an excellent captain. He needs another chance. He has learned a lot from his mistakes.

@Player, my thoughts exactly. He wrote a piece longer than the article.

@Janjuah. Are we talking about playing cricket or passing an English language final exam??? Please let them play on merits of their skills and don't bring 'fluency of english without grammatical mistakes'. Look at the Brazilian football team, they are world beaters and also need translators when they are interviewed but they are not ashamed or embarassed because they are speaking their language, for the country they proudly represent, by PLAYING as professional sportsmen, not Shakespeare's.

I think this debate is uncalled for. Misbah has done a lot for Pakistani cricket, and his win loss ratio proves it. Why try and fix something which is not broken? As Pakistani supporters, I understand how some people might get too emotional and over zealous, but don't forget where we were just two years ago, with 3 members in jail for spot fixing. Given how we operate as a people in general, it is in fact a blessing to have a player of Misbah's management skills and cool head leading the side.

We would never had made the first T20 final had it not been for Mishbah.

If we can get rid of Misbah and Akmal's..we can be world beaters again

Transaction period where what happens? Is there something the 'News of the World' told you which you are jot sharing with us?

How about Shahid Afridi for captain? Oh wait, isn't he too young. But when he is over 17?

Misbah will always have a place in the team for his efforts. Who does not need a water boy?

Misbah is the second Javed Miandad ... in bowling of course :D

yes i think he needs to go now. He has done tremendous job for Pakistan team in terms of steadying the ship. However world cup is round the corner and Pakistan needs a young leader and Hafeez is any way waiting in the wings to take the job. Well done Misbah but its time to hang the bat and better to leave the game on high. As a side point I think we should thank Akmal brothers for their service and bring some new faces as both of them had ample opportunities and failed to deliver. I am sure we have lot of talented cricketers out there longing for a chance.

misbah is doing a great job

No one is bigger then the game itself. If some one becomes the reason of defeat,not once but many times, then he should give it up. But, in our culture, this is unthinkable. We lost to India in WC, and now this. Yes, it's time to pass the torch to Hafeez. Enough experimets Mr. Misbah and PCB.

Open your eyes Bilal, and look, why we lost to India in last year WC and the 3rd ODI. He may be a good player, but a louzy captain(Just like Mohammad Yousaf). Time to change the captain is now.

I agree with your comments.

He certainly needs to step down as captain, but should remain in the squad. Meanwhile PCB needs to start looking for his replacement and should be able to do this early next year.

I think if Mishbah is fit and performing, he should continue to play for at least another year. Remember, the captain is as good as the team he gets. No miracles will happen in pakistan cricket if Hafeez replaces Misbah as captain. Look at Ricky Ponting when he led the best australian side, he was rated the best captain, then look at his record after scores of retirement(Mcgrath, Warne, Hayden etc), he lost two ashes in a row, but that by any means diminished his achievements as one of the best batsman and most successful captain. Cricket is a cruel game, when you are on the roll, you are the best, when you are not, you get criticized and ridiculed. especially in the media and public.

hello sir, you must be kidding... this is Misbah 's approch and mentallity that we lost w.c. semis and this match. He holds one end ...fair enough but expects others to deliver after he scores @ less than 50% strike rate in one day and makes average too high for batsmen to follow. For God sake, have mercy on our team. It was so funny to see him continuosly beaten and smiling, just a pathetic player and too old to be in the side. What is his class....an aerage batsman, average fielder (remember in w.c. he dropped sachin as well...so did Younis) and in how many serieses he performed (despite bragging about being only the captain of a winning side, and might have sympathies by PCB officials). So is Younis...retired 3 times and back in side again, i bet he will perform every 8-10 match to show that he's the machu man and anchor of Pakistan batting. If a batsman is not delivering especially the top order then dont expect Kamran to hit the winning runs. and by the way, why PCB is treating Afridi so bad.... he is crowd favorite, best bowler, best fielder (better than Misbah and Younis) and of course he can score odd 20 runs in 20 balls....not 20 runs from 356 balls and have creepy smiles on the face. Shame on these players and PCB officials who dont see the players quality. The amazing part on PCB selection committee is CHIEF SELECTOR Mr Iqbal Qasim....he never scored run and whats his record in the bowling department. Cricket has changed and so are priorities in the game scenerio...so please please get new blood and selection personnels and get rid of old crap because they are not doing any good and are only hurting our nation's feelings. Keep in mind that Afridi was the highest wicket taker in w.c. (until semis) and if likes of Misbah, Younis or top order is not scoring or making things difficult for the team then whats the purpose of having them..... If Afridi, Razzaq is thrown out then why not these so called BIG GUNS....any answers

Look at the rating has gone in minus. After the idea of match fixing, the Dawn news started RATE fixing.

He seems to be loosing his way under pressure.

he did his part by scoring at 50% strike and left too much for the tail....if someone stays that long at the crease then he must finish the job not give creepy smiles at playing n missing balls. i must say that Dhoni is good example of a captain with all throwing wickets and he scored 50 odd runs in better strie rate...not 34 outta 80 odd deliveries

Misbah has caused Pakistan to loose so many crucial matches, such as the last World Cup against India. Misbah was playing as if it's a five day test match, when Misbah and Younus were at the crease, between the two of them it took 64 balls to hit the first boundary, both of them dropped catches too. If you look closely at the way they both performed you would know that the match was fixed.

more than half of Pakistani cricket team at any given time consists of non-performers be it young or oldies. Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, M. Hafeez, Abdul Razzaq, the 2 cheat Akmal brothers. Look at any one of them's performance over the last 5 years. Only thing consistent you'll find in their performance is their consistent failure & lousy performance and yes that includes our late bloomer Mr. Hafeez too. But problem is that we as people fall over each other with utter joy just because these clowns somehow manage to play one random decent knock here n there and we make Gods out of these bunch of mediocres. We regard them as our great assets just because they had played one decent knock long time ago.

Just like Pakistani politicians it's time for Misbah to move on and let someone else lead. The question I have is will Mohammad Amir be allowed to play in the 2015 WC? Would love to see Amir, Raza Hasan, Junaid Khan, Ajmal, and Gulldozer in a WC lineup.

he must call it a day, despite the laid down traditions what to talk of captain no ones goes - pity !.

To me Misbah should remain in the team but yes for future plans you can ask him to step down as captain and give chance to Hafeez.

misbah is a good captain....to be candid best captain in last decade for Pak...but fact remains as a player he doesn't fit in the batting order; he should bring his game up otherwise he should stick to test cricket only.

Pakistan played 34 matches and won 21 matches under Misbah leadership is really impressive. But now the situations demand Misbah's replacement. So we all give standing ovation to Misbah if he retired from ODI and continue Test cricket.

Misbah deserves more time with a team that he tamed to be a winning group of players. These are the same players who were unable to win even easy games. In case of Pakistan cricket, it was hard to find someone stable to lead the team. Every six months we had a new captain which had a bad effect on the boys. We need to groom more players from within the team to act responsibly as a team-member and as a Captain just like Misbah did.

Its pretty much it for him i think.......I believe no one from the board or the team would think of leaving Misbah behind against RSA but i think Hafeez should be made captain of ODI team now and Misbah should only play as a batsman in RSA ODI series......... Slowly and gradually after helping Hafeez out in 1 or 2 series, he should quit ODI and focus only on Tests.........!!!

As far as i remember correctly we lost odi series against england australia n sri lanka so its 6 out of nine and that to comprise of series win against ireland and bangladesh..his only achievement is the series win against india that too bcos of bowling and nasir jamshed..he shoukd step aside for pakistan cricket

chopping and changing does not help, all u need is stability

Misbah is really a good player. No Doubt !!!!! If Misbah takes the decision of retirement from ODI, it would be a wise decision for both Pakistan and Misbah. He should also think for future of Pakistan cricket.

all good things come to an end . there is no denying the fact that misbah held the reigns of team pakistan when it was passing through worst period in its history ... two of the best fast bowlers were involved in spot fixing scandal and in that period misbah provided the much needed stability to pakistan cricket ... but its better that he should call it a day on a high note rather than being forced to leave the team unceremoniously ... we love u misbah for the glory you have brought by winning against india but its time to make way for some young legs

MIsbah is a nice guy .He is not a one day player .His strike rate does not give him place in any team on a one day format . It is time to replace Younis ,shoeb malik kamal brothers and Umar Gull In India the team is selected on Merit basis even if they are are Muslim unlike in Pakistan players from Punjab are given preference over other provinces in jobs as well as on sports . Selector should be from other provinces not from Punjab to choose players on Merit only

Misbah must not only be removed from captaincy but banned from playing cricket in addition to some monetary fine if not putting him behind the bars. What did he do as captain cum batsman in the 3 ODIs he has played against India? Why could he not score in Delhi where we lost the match and could not achieve white-wash? How the hell did he say that we will win the last match too when he is nothing more than a failed batsman. Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait / iqbalhadizaidi.formerdiplomat@hotmail.com

He should definitely step down from all formats. And another ca[ptain, i.e., Azhar or Shafiq, could be groomed for captaincy in all formats.

And why not to bring Fawad Alam for # 5 position in all formats as well. He could be even a better option than Azhar and Shafiq.

@ Iqbal, my answer to you is, Afridi is the worst thing that has happed to Pakistan cricket. He changed the mindset of not only the up and coming cricketers but also the whole nation.

What do you really want? Why fix something that is not broken!! Misbah was the one who lent stability to an erratic run chase in Delhi, and his dismissal was more acceptable than how Younis Khan and the younger Akmal threw their wickets away. Let, for once, enjoy Pakistan an extended run of stability.

If cricket is a sport that stands for entertainment then Misbah has no place. In 2012, 4 ODI losses to Eng and only one win against Aus, and overall 10 losses and 8 wins in 2012. Even in his whole captain career he have won only against Ban, Ireland, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Srilanka; no match played with south africa, west indies, new zealand.

I was wondering the same thing, I tried to find the history of minus rating but wasn't able to see any where else inside the Dawn paper. Has anyone seen this before or this is the first time for minus rating?

NO! Misbah is the top ODI scorer from Pakistan in 2012 having an average of 42. He's is a slow bat but at-least scoring, the middle order is not mature yet. And the biggest advantage is he's calm and impartial, and team is united under him with no controversies. This is much better team than 2003&2007 WC.

I think Misbah Is a good captain!

Frankly, if the measure of making a captain was age, then we should be asking Imran Khan to come back as captain. Misbah has had an ok run as captain (may be) but a team of 11 players cannot afford to have one of them as merely a captain and not a contributor. Captains all over the world lead by example, unfortunately, Misbah can set no example based on his performance. Its a cricket team and not a school class where you need an older teacher to control them. The captain has to be the best performer, more often than not, like Hafeez these days. Misbah must leave with dignity before he is discharged disgracefully like so many of his predecessors. The board must wake up and start using brains rather than politics (if anyone of them has any) and must put country's pride ahead of prejudice.

He may have a better average but if it takes too many balls to score in ODI it's no good. He hit his first boundary after 42 balls in WC semi against India, Younus and his slow scoring caused Pakistan loosing the match.

I think its good time for Misbah to leave and given the charge to Mohd Hafeez who is looking awsom in every dept. of the game like bowling, bating and fielding. PCB should take bold stand in this case.

I think the SA series should be the decider. If he does well as a player then he can continue otherwise, it might be time to have Hafeez take over and bring in someone like Haris Sohail. I am curious about Younis Khan's position in the team. He definitely wont be around the next world cup and he has never set the one day arena alight. Maybe, it might be appropriate for him to concentrate on tests only. Then again, who am I to say anything...

Why this issue is raised now, when he played much slower inng in WC2011 v India. Captain is the one, who unites the team and produce/devlelop match winners. There is no doubt that he has passed his best, but he can be useful in lower order when wickets are falling like nine pins and it is usual since long and his role as a captain is unquestionable. We must not forget that he is not leading the talent likes of 80s and 90s but he is still managed to produce positive results, let him play until he wants, we should create a history by allowing an individual to leave the team in respective manner.

If you think Misbah's batting is 'slow' or tuk-tuk, you don't know the first thing about cricket. The truth is Misbah has a much better record than any of your 'swashbuckling' or 'hitter' batsmen in ODIs. Compared to Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and there can be no comparison. When was the last time any of these other names played a BIG innings? An innings with a big score, which led your team to a big total and won the game for Pakistan? Quick 20s, 30s might help in T20 but they don't in one-day cricket where you need at least 2 of your top six to play out 50 overs and score run a ball. None except Misbah, Azhar Ali or Nasir Jamshed are capable of doing that. True that he might not last till 2015 and even truer that his eye isnt what it used to be, but he's still best of the worst. There aren't too many younger batsman in Pakistan who can score on all sorts of wickets other than the flat tracks in the region. If you wish to contest this statement, just go and watch videos of Pakistan's batting in our last 2-3 tours of Australia, South Africa and England. No footwork, no technique, playing away from body. Be thankful that someone like Misbah still is in your team, you could be much worse off. He should stay as test captain for another 2 years, whereas he should give ODI captaincy to Hafeez and play as a batsman in middle order till he's fit or till Umar Akmal and Azhar Ali grow a brain.

Yes he must go

Misbah must stay as a captain at least 3-4 series and help Hafeez to become more cool etc and then he should leave ODI and stay in test

With all due respect sir...u are wrong about records....Misbah is unfortunately a loser and all the series winnings are either in Dubai or in sub continent pitches against weaker teams...barely any against other competing cricketing nation overseas....and if we are that good then our rating should have been a lot higher. Other teams invest in talent and groom players, unfortunately in Pakistan, like every other department, old fashioned cricketers are given the powers to decide the fate of players and country's dignity where performance is the least possible qualification criteria. Remind me how many match winning performances been delivered by Misbah. He might be better within worse of the lot but there is no CHARISMA in his personality and honestly he is too old to play at international level with his caliber. If you believe that he the best then look at the other middle order players in the world and see how much they delivered at crunch times. We lost or have drawn more matches because of his pathetic approach. Same for Younis as well, amazingly joining teams after 3 retirements. Players need to be kept at certain batting number and should make them realize the importance of nation pride over personal achievement...and Misbah, unfortunately always tried to achieve personal goals. We can write pages and pages to justify our self but the reality is that its time for old pals to leave and don't try to be hypocrites.