Post Spot Fixing Resurgence

It was under Misbah after the spot fixing scandal that Pakistan got back on track, without these two test series results hard to see how the team would have succeeded at the World Cup. They took a lot of confidence from these results. In both series they exceeded expectations with a totally reformed side. Not many expected them to draw against South Africa and win in New Zealand with a brand new team:

Drew 0-0 vs number 2 ranked test side
Won 1-0 vs New Zealand (first test series win in 4 years, first in 7 years outside Asia)

Afridi on the other hand with a more experienced side in one day cricket:

Lost 6 consecutive Twenty20 internationals (Misbah only played 2 of them)
Lost 3-2 against England and South Africa (Misbah only played 2/10 ODIs)

When Misbah was reintroduced into the ODI team as vice-captain in 2011 after test series win in New Zealand:

They beat New Zealand 3-2 – man of the match in one of the games
They reached WC semis – team leading run scorer
They beat West Indies 3-2 – man of the match in one of the games

If Afridi did such a remarkable job then why would they have been contemplating replacing him two weeks before the World Cup with Misbah or sacking him in May 2011 for Misbah? The PCB isn’t that dumb. Journalists are not that dumb either. I’m yet to see a foreign journalist praise Afridi more than Misbah for leading Pakistan’s resurgence.

It’s blinding obvious why Misbah gets all the credit as the leader of the ship if not the bulk:

1) Misbah has led for 12 consecutive test series since the spot fixing scandal.
2) Test Cricket is the pinnacle of the game.
3) This is where the effect of the spot fixing scandal was going to be felt the most. Not only losing the trio but losing Danish Kaneria as well, as the investigation was being widened with his involvement for Essex following what happened with the trio.
4) There were different personnel in the one day side: Razzaq, Afridi, Akhtar, Kamran and Yousuf (for 6 of the ODIs) and the team were far more experienced. There were 7 different players in the Test side in the 1st test under Misbah from the team that played in the scandalous Test. Very thin on experience.
5) Misbah although wasn’t captain during the 2011 World Cup or the tour of New Zealand in the ODIs before that, he was nonetheless a premier performer in the side and formally Afridi’s deputy.
6) Misbah has captained the ODI side for significantly longer than Afridi in the years which followed. 3 years as opposed to Afridi’s 1 year.
7) Misbah was the only one to have captained in all 3 formats after the spot fixing scandal.
8) It was under Misbah’s captaincy in 2011-12 where you could say Pakistan had reached a revival when they beat Zimbabwe in all 3 formats on same tour, beat Sri Lanka in all 3 formats on same tour, beat Bangladesh in all 3 formats on same tour, whitewashed England 3-0 and won the Asia Cup.

Does Afridi really have Misbah's professionalism, man management, calmness, education and temperament to lead a resurgence? This is a man who lost more than he won overall as captain across all formats, ran away from test captaincy, violated code of conduct as captain, overall had modest performances, gave irresponsible media statements, attacked his own players in the press and yet is being credited for leading Pakistan out of the doldrums. Madness. While Misbah may only have captained in 4 Tests after the spot fixing scandal till the 2011 World Cup, one Test is worth the equivalent of a whole one day series.