Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s tragic hero

Along came his maiden fifty and with Sami showing the kind of guts and gumption that would embarrass the frontline Pakistani batsmen who showed no stomach for a fight, even a century seemed up for grabs for the Mianwali-born cricketer.

But again Misbah was not destined to achieve the feat and another weird dismissal cut short his stay.

Misbah pushed a Sourav Ganguly delivery to the point region and ran for a single. Fielder Dinesh Kaarthick collected the ball and had a go at the stumps on the non-strikers end. Inches off the crease and still not grounding his bat, Misbah did the unthinkable and leapt in the air to avoid being hit by the throw. It only cleared the balls passage to the stumps and the bails were off with the batsman still in the air.

It was neither Ganguly’s enthusiasm, nor Anil Kumble’s guile or Zaheer Khan’s pace. Misbah’s undoing, once again, was his own making.

It was a tragic end to a heroic effort as Misbah sauntered his way back to the pavilion, bailing out the side from a morass to a total of 231 which was unthinkable on the first day.

Incidentally, this was not the first time that Misbahs dismissal has dominated the debate tables.

In recent past, Misbahs infamous scoop shot in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup, against the traditional opposition, landed in S Sreesanths hands to dash Pakistans hopes in the summit clash. While his dismissal was hotly discussed, fans forgot it was because of Misbahs sizzling show that Pakistan could make a match of it in the final.

Incidentally, Misbahs dismissal on Friday was almost a repeat show of what Inzamam-ul-Haq, the player Misbah succeeded in the side, did in the 2005 Faisalabad Test against England.

Having notched up yet another hundred against the Poms, Inzamam patted back a Steve Harmison full toss to the bowler, who picked up the ball and threw at the stumps. Trying to steer clear of the throws path, Inzamam took an evasive action, lifting his back foot and was adjudged run out, even though the dismissal was hardly an advertisement for Harmisons sportsmans spirit.

Pointing out that its a daunting ask to step into the shoes of someone of Inzamams calibre, Misbah has often urged fans not to compare him with the retired captain. But going by his penchant for peculiar dismissals, Pakistan has surely found Inzamams successor in Misbah.