LAHORE: Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s most successful Test captain and a prolific batsman, said on Thursday that he would be retiring from international cricket after the three-Test series against the West Indies, which ends on May 14.

Misbah, 43, made the announcement after joining the short training camp at the Gaddafi Stadium here on its final day.

“Yes, the series against the West Indies will be my last and I have already conveyed this to PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan,” Misbah told reporters at the ground.

“I will sum up my cricket career as very similar to what life has been,” he said philosophically. “I’ve seen many ups and downs during my career. I enjoyed great success, but was also dropped from the team at times and played poorly. But there were some great moments that I really cherish, where we won matches and became the number one Test team in the world.

“So overall, I am satisfied with my performance. I must admit, though, that it was my dream to win the World Cup 2015, but it was not to be. Playing against India was another. But the most important thing is to learn from these things and to move forward,” said the Test skipper.

“Yes, the failures brought disappointment, but you should not give up as you have to get up to do better. No one can be successful all the time but you must learn from mistakes.”

“I would also like to thank all who played a very positive role in my cricketing career,” said Misbah who has played 72 Test matches and needs just 51 runs to complete 5,000 runs in Test cricket.

In response to a question, he said there was no pressure on him to retire. “In fact, I had made up my mind to retire from cricket a year back, after the series against England in the UAE, but later something happened that compelled me to defer the decision,” he said.

“I will try to end my career on a good note by winning the series against the West Indies. Our preparations are good and we have a chance to overcome the bad patch that we experienced in the last six Test matches Down Under,” said Misbah. “Victory against the West Indies will help us regain our confidence.”

Asked about the advice he would like to give to his likely successor, wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed, Misbah said: “Sarfraz has already been named as captain of the two formats. We need to support him. There should be no division of any kind and all the players should stand behind the captain so that he could lead without any pressure.”

Commenting on reports that he could soon take up the role of a TV cricket expert, Misbah said: ”I have not made any specific plan about my future. At present I am focussed on the three Test series. I will play domestic cricket for some more time and if I do not enjoy it then will think about anything else,” he stated.

Assessing Pakistan’s chances in the upcoming Test series against the West Indies, Misbah said: “Pakistan is a well-balanced side and hopefully Yasir Shah will again start performing as match-winner. Youngsters like pacer Mohammad Abbas, Shahdab Khan and some others are very good talent and I am expecting a lot from them.”

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2017