A batsman who defied age, a captain who defied odds

Misbah-ul-Haq's first nine years in Test cricket gave no hint as to what was to follow in the rest of his career. By January 2010, he had managed to play only 19 of the 79 Test matches that Pakistan played since his debut. His 1008 runs during this period had come at an also-ran average of 33.60. As many as eight Pakistan batsmen to make their debut after Misbah had made more runs than him in these nine years. Shahid Afridi, with perhaps a temperament as unsuited for Test cricket as Misbah's was suited for it, had scored more Test runs at a better average than Misbah and had hit more hundreds. Misbah's Test career seemed as good as over after he didn't even make it to the 35-member preliminary squad announced to tour England that year.

In late 2010, however, a fortuitous turn of events landed Misbah a place in the Test side, not merely as a player, but also as the captain. At 36 years and 168 days, he became the joint-oldest player ever (along with Asif Iqbal) to make his captaincy debut for Pakistan. In a cricketing set-up where the odds of playing for the country go down drastically past the age of 30 (only 13 of 224 Pakistan cricketers have made their Test debut after 30), Misbah, perhaps, was extremely lucky to gain a second wind to his international career.

What followed though had a lot less to do with luck. The responsibility of leading his side possibly spurred Misbah on and he went on to score at least one fifty-plus score in his first seven Tests as captain. Only England's Peter May, who did this in each of his first eight Tests as captain, has had a better run and only two others - Alastair Cook and Stephen Fleming - have achieved this in five or more Tests from captaincy debut.

In these seven Tests, Misbah made 704 runs at an average of 88.00 with fifty-plus scores of 76*, 77, 58*, 62, 99, 70*, 52, 102* and 66. Six of these scores came in consecutive innings, making him only the third Pakistan batsman - Zaheer Abbas and Mohammad Yousuf being the others - to hit fifty-plus scores in six or more consecutive innings.

Since becoming captain Misbah has gone on to score 4153 runs at an average of 51.91 - all of it and a few more made after the age of 35. In fact, Misbah has scored as much as 86% of his career runs after the age of 35 - the highest share of runs scored after that age by any batsman to have made at least 5000 Test runs. Even in absolute terms, only one other batsman - Graham Gooch - has made more runs than Misbah after 35.

Over six years hence, Misbah has lived up to the promise that he had made with the incredible start to his captaincy career: he has scored at least one fifty-plus score in 36 out of the 55 matches that he has played. This percentage of 65.45% is the highest among 57 captains who have led in 25 or more matches. Among those who have led in at least 20 Tests, only Don Bradman (19 out of 24) and Steven Smith (17 out of 24) rank higher.

For a batsman with a career strike-rate of 44.62 (among 38 batsmen to make at least 5000 runs since 2000, Misbah's strike-rate is only better than Shivnarine Chanderpaul's and Rahul Dravid's), he was capable of scoring at a much faster clip if not for scoreboard pressure. But opportunities like the Abu Dhabi Test against Australia in 2014, where he got what was then the joint-fastest Test hundred, were few and far between in his career.

More often than he would have liked, he had to come out to bat at No. 5 with less than 100 on the board. As many as 22 of Misbah's 48 fifty-plus scores came in such situations. Only three other batsmen - Shivnarine Chanderpaul , Steve Waugh and Andy Flower - have hit more such scores batting at No. 5 or lower. Among captains who have batted at No. 5 or lower, Misbah's 18 fifty-plus scores are the most when coming in to bat with the team score less than 100 - ahead of other captains such as Andy Flower and Arjuna Ranatunga, who were in charge of similarly weak batting sides.

Misbah's greatest contribution to Pakistan cricket, however, was the stability he provided at the helm. He took on Pakistan's captaincy during turbulent times: he was the fourth player to be appointed Pakistan's Test captain in 2010. Ten different players had led Pakistan in Tests since the turn of the century before Misbah took charge of the team. For someone who couldn't command a place in the Test XI before he took on the captaincy, it is a remarkable achievement that he has led the Pakistan side over six years and 55 Tests - the longest term in office for any Pakistan captain.

He will end his career after having led Pakistan in 56 Tests; only one other captain from the subcontinent, MS Dhoni, would have led in more matches. He will also end up with the second-most wins for any captain from the subcontinent. But the absence of Test cricket in Pakistan has meant that Misbah's 'home' wins, unlike for captains from other teams, have come on pitches in the UAE that were, largely, not 'prepared' to suit his team's strengths. The lack of any real home advantage - including the virtually non-existent crowd support - make his wins in the UAE almost as worthy as those that come playing outside home conditions. That, arguably, makes him a deserving topper in the all-time list of captains who have won most Tests outside home.

Misbah's 4153 runs while leading Pakistan are the most by any captain from the subcontinent. He has scored more runs and more fifty-plus scores in wins than any other captain. No one from the subcontinent has out-won the next-best captain from his country like Misbah has (he has 11 more Test wins than Imran Khan and Javed Miandad). He has won more series* than any other captain from the subcontinent. And to top it all, he took Pakistan to the No. 1 position in ICC's Test rankings for the first time. These are accomplishments that arguably make him the best ever Test captain from the subcontinent.

* Series in which the captain has led in all the Tests