Leading the charge with cricket in Pakistan

Pakistan's cricket owes a lot to Misbah as he has helped the country to rebuild its image

The successful staging of the first ever Pakistan Super League edition has helped Pakistan to enter the league of Twenty20s in the world. It was a step in the right direction for Pakistan cricket and Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq once again showed his credentials as a leader by helping Islamabad United to lift the inaugural PSL title.
According to Misbah, it was the most difficult tournament of his career as he was nursing a calf injury but carried on leading the side all the way. Despite a poor start, Team Islamabad were able to peak at the right time to emerge as champions.
According to PSL Chairman Najam Sethi, it can turn out to be a passport to bring back international cricket to Pakistan as the efforts are already on to invite a foreign team consisting of Commonwealth players to play a series in the country.
Recently, a foreign newspaper declared Misbah as the best contemporary Test captain in the cricket-playing world. When he was recalled to the Pakistan side and handed over the captaincy in 2011, the team was in deep trouble in the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal. He brought some sanity to the dressing room, which helped the team to register some of the most memorable victories in the Test arena.
Pakistan whitewashed the former number one ranked Test team England during the 2011-12 series in the UAE. Pakistan also won the series against Australia in 2014 and defeated South Africa in the Abu Dhabi Test in 2013.
All of Misbah's games as captain have been played, won, lost and drawn on foreign soil.
Despite all these achievements the most successful Test captain of Pakistan has suffered a lot at the hands of Pakistani media and fans alike. But he never lost his cool except once at Dubai International Cricket Stadium when he questioned the attitude of some of the touring Pakistani journalists who were spewing venom against him in the media.
They were trying to mislead the Pakistan Cricket Board through their coverage to replace Misbah as one-day international captain. They were backing a particular player to be Pakistan captain in the shorter version of the game.
Misbah always backed Shahid Afridi as a player and T20 captain. He once again took his side after Afridi drew criticism over his 'getting more love in India' comment.
While talking to media Misbah said: "There was nothing wrong about what Afridi said and it is only the interpretation by the media. You face problems when you don't talk to media and if you say something it will land you in trouble.
"We need to back our team and captain and I hope the boys will try their best and do well in the tournament."
Misbah was dropped from Twenty20 squad but it is still believed that he is the best Pakistani batsman in the shortest version of the game as he proved during the PSL.
He quit the ODI side to help the PCB to groom a captain for next World Cup. He wanted to say goodbye to Tests but was forced by the PCB to carry on and it is a wise decision.
He will lead his side against England this summer and it will be a difficult series. He is looking forward to playing against England that will be a huge personal challenge for him.
He said: "I will consider my options after that series. It is possible that I may go on to play a few more series after that but once again; I don't want to look too far ahead into the future at this point. Obviously the tour against Australia is also on the horizon, but I will consider all these options after we are done with the tour of England." 

• Pakistan