Ajmal too strong for England in Dubai Author: Maaz; Views: 650; Date: 22-01-2012, 06:23;

England were woefully out of sorts in the 1^st test at Dubai as Misbah ul Haq’s men outplayed the world number 1 ranked test side to win by 10 wickets inside 3 days and take an influential 1-0 lead in the series. Now, 2 dead draws will be more than enough to give Misbah ul Haq’s side the series honours which will be nothing short of a monumental achievement in Pakistan’s test history and also represent a phenomenal run of rich test form under Misbah’s captaincy which includes beating the very best in the business who went into this series full of energy and optimism for beating Pakistan and even walking over them.

Pakistan was expected to compete, but the manner and margin of victory was astounding and least expected. This is the first time since 2003 that Pakistan have won 3 consecutive tests in a row when they whitewashed Bangladesh in their tour of Pakistan in 2003, the series famously known for the match winning knock played by the Sultan of Multan to save the hosts from utter embarrassment. Pakistan has won the most test matches since January 2011 and has been the best test side in the world since then.

Test Win Number 7 for Misbah ul Haq. What stands out is the margin of all the wins under his captaincy:

- 10 wicket win inside 3 days against New Zealand

- 196 run win against the West Indies

- 7 wicket win against Zimbabwe

- 9 wicket win against Sri Lanka

- An innings win against Bangladesh

- 7 wicket win against Bangladesh

- 10 wicket win inside 3 days against England

Only 6 out of 29 Pakistan captains have led Pakistan to more test wins, although all of them had lost significantly more:

- 8 Mushtaq Mohammad

- 10 Waqar Younis

- 11 Inzamam

- 12 Wasim Akram

- 14 Javed Miandad

- 14 Imran Khan

Misbah has the highest W/L ratio by a Pakistan test captain of all time

Misbah ul Haq: Won 7 Drawn 5 Lost 1 (7.0)

Rashid Latif: Won 4 Drawn 1 Lost 1 (4.0)

Zaheer Abbas: Won 3 Drawn 10 Lost 1 (3.0)

Captaincy Record across All Formats: Played 32 Won 25 Drawn 5 Lost 2 (W/L ratio of 12.5)

Described by cricket journalist Rob Steen as one of the 5 men of the year in 2011 and for his exact quote have a read below: "Kudos for the current Pakistani resurgence, though, goes primarily to Misbah, whose calm leadership and even calmer batting have lent stability to the most storm-tossed vessel on the high seas. The contrast to his disgraced predecessor could hardly have been starker. Among the new, true allrounders - i.e. those picked across all three formats - none averaged more than his 57.20. The first 40-year-old national skipper since Imran Khan? Don't put it past him." - Rob Steen Cricinfo Mid December 2011

Saeed Ajmal was the chief destroyer of the English batting in this match, but do you know how Ajmal managed to get into the team in the first place? Misbah ul Haq recommended and pushed for his inclusion to the board and eventually when Misbah captained for a one off in 2008 he got his chance, since then the off spinner has not looked back and dominated There is a direct link between educated cricketers becoming outstanding captains:

Mike Brearley (who was purely in the team for his captaincy as he averaged in the low 20s)

Imran Khan

Nasser Hussain

Michael Atherton

Kumar Sangakkara

Rahul Dravid

Sourav Ganguly

Andrew Strauss

Similarly, Pakistan’s current captain has a master’s degree. You doubt an MBA at your own peril. 

Quotes

This was the examination of Pakistan's progress that was anxiously awaited, a bout with the world's No.1 Test team, a tussle that might expose the illusion of Pakistan's cricketing resurrection. Instead, Misbah-ul-Haq's team moved their supporters a few steps closer to heavenly rapture. - Kamran Abbasi

Team Misbah's stylish victory has restated that precious ability of sport to cleanse sins and lift hearts. For its manner and its poignancy, Pakistan's ten-wicket triumph will rank among the greatest in its gripping cricket history. - Kamran Abbasi

Botham: How many of the Akmals have played international cricket then?
Ramiz: 3 of them and all can keep
Botham: Well, I know 1 of them can
keep, actually 2 of them, but not sure about the other one
Ramiz: (laughs) I won't ask you to name him

"From two innings it is clear Ian Bell couldn’t pick Saeed Ajmal. He has more chance of picking his nose than Ajmal’s doosra." - Geoff Boycott

"Pakistan confirmed to me this week that they are by far the best team in the Sub Continent at the minute.... By a country mile.." - Michael Vaughan

Impressive Misbah