Team Misbah: From broke to go-for-broke
Away from the all the media glare and the spotlight, like a sage sitting behind a creaking desk and working diligently, Misbah-ul-Haq has been writing a script that is now being revealed to all of us. Like all things Misbah, the script is nothing without its nuances and engaging details.
The story of Team Pakistan’s recent successes is many ways the story of Misbah-ul-Haq; a story that involves patient waiting, steely resolve and a charmingly simple approach focusing on getting the basics right. For nearly a decade, Misbah was ignored for selection purposes even as he piled on the runs. And for months, hardly anyone took Pakistan seriously as a Test side — till we beat Sri Lanka and some raised their heads and glanced in our direction again.
Like his batting, Misbah’s leadership is serene and calculated. Many were unfairly harsh on him after the World Cup semi-final loss against India. Misbah did not lose us that game, the players around him did not stick around. The man faced ridicule not just after Mohali but also Johannesburg when his dismissal cost us the Twenty-20 World Cup against India. Not many players would have discovered the strength of character to survive. But he did. His skill, like his captaincy, is almost invisible and taken by many for granted. Yet it continues to influence long, drawn out tussles and brings us glory. For many Pakistan cricket fans, regardless of the score, the sight of the scorecard reading ‘Misbah-ul-Haq, not out’ is so common that you could be forgiven for not noticing it. Since he became captain, he has averaged around 80 in Test matches.
Some weeks ago I wrote that we Pakistanis do not just worship the game of cricket; we worship for it in our mosques and temples. I am reminded of that today because for us there is purity in cricket, just like in acts of sincere worship. It is a common love that runs through our veins and that binds us with perfect strangers in moments of celebration and heart-breaking defeats. Our cricket, in recent times, has not been without heart-break; especially off the field. Not having home games to cheer Team Pakistan is a great tragedy.
All of us look forward to the times when once again stadiums in Lahore, Karachi and other places will roar with the passion of thousands as our quicks run in to bowl or our spinners deliver a doosra that strikes the pads below the knee roll. Just thinking of that gives me goose-bumps and one hopes that that day is not far.
And today we celebrate a Team Pakistan that resembles nothing that most of us (at least in my generation) are used to. It is not star-studded, either in terms of openers or its pacers. It does not have a super-star as its captain and, yet, it surprises us — with its grit, consistency and ‘never-say-die’ spirit. Of the 19 Tests that Saeed Ajmal has played and influenced, to claim his 100 wickets, not a single one has been played at home grounds. Think of that. That speaks volumes about the man’s skill.
Foreign political analysts often comment on how Pakistan, as a country, surprisingly manages to survive one disaster after another and trudges along. We often do not realise it but despite the incredibly difficult times we live in, resilience has seeped into our very existence. There is no shortage of problems or pressing issues around us but we have developed a greater ability to push back and take charge of things. Maya Khan would know.
Of course our real test as a people will come in the future. Can we sustain our resilience and build something on it? Can we push back against forces that do not depend on television ratings and those that do not fear public embarrassment? Difficult questions.
But today Team Pakistan has brought smiles to millions of faces. It may not be star-studded but, like our country, it is re-discovering itself. Its losses, screaming appeals and uplifting triumphs are ours.
I have celebrated many Team Pakistan victories with roaring crowds in Lahore and Islamabad. And yet there is an equal unadulterated joy that I have recently discovered — one that is whispered but just as special. As everyone in my building sleeps I, like many other Pakistanis abroad, have been up at 4 am and other odd hours — dancing with joy, cursing the DRS, urging the fielders to stop the 2nd run and, of course, pleading ‘how was that?’. A small computer screen becomes the center of your world and the Cricinfo tab announcing the fall of another English wicket brings a broad smile behind a desk in a law school library.
No one notices. No one needs to notice. Pure joy, flowing from a love as pure as cricket, has never needed validation. In times and in a country where reasons to celebrate are often hard to find, Team Pakistan has brought us joy far beyond what we expected. But that is what makes them Team Pakistan. Despite and because of all its unpredictability Team Pakistan is our own. Its story is our story; a script that they write and we rejoice in reading. Despite all the heartbreak, I would not have it any other way. For when it matters most they re-introduce us to the words, “and Pakistan has won.”
The writer is a Barrister and an Advocate of the High Courts. He is currently pursuing an LLM in the US and can be reached at wmir.rma@gmail.com