Pakistan cricket team has jumped up one position in the ICC Test team rankings after comprehensively beating Bangladesh by 2-0 in a recently concluded series.
The Men in Green have been performing extremely well over the past one year and are improving in overall rankings day by day. They are now the number fifth Test team, leaving Sri Lanka behind in sixth.
One of the main reasons behind Pakistan’s success has been the splendid leadership skills of Misbah-ul-Haq, who was initially named as captain in the longest version of the game, but later took over from Shahid Afridi in One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 cricket as well.
There was a lot of criticism over Misbah, considering his age. However, he performed well both as captain and player during 2011, silencing all critics.
The 37-year-old is yet to be defeated in any series until now. Pakistan have only lost one Test and ODI under the leadership of Misbah, who has now set his sights on the series against England in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), starting from Tuesday, January 17, 2012.
Many believe that Pakistan’s success in 2011 was only because of the weaker oppositions they played against. The team defeated West Indies, Ireland, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in different competitions.
However, the Men in Green also played against Sri Lanka, team which was better ranked before the start of the series against Pakistan.
Misbah and his men dominated the opposition in that series, as Sri Lanka only managed to win just one ODI on the entire tour.
Despite all that, critics rate Misbah as a defensive captain and expect him to struggle against the Poms, who are number one in the ICC Test and Twenty20 rankings. They only struggle in the 50-over format, but are competitive enough to trouble any opposition in the world.
The Pakistani captain will be against three different skippers, as England have a separate leader for every format of the game.
However, Misbah believes that his side can continue winning in every format if they stick together and play as one unit. He advised his players to continue focusing on the game rather than listening to the critics, who can never be satisfied.
