5 cricketers whose late entry cost them legendary status

#2 Misbah-ul-Haq

Misbah is going strong at 42

Misbah-ul-Haq narrowly missed out on taking his team to World Cup glory in the inaugural T20 World Cup. That has been the story of his life, overshadowed and criticised by many of his own countrymen, mostly unfairly.

But it is a tribute to the man’s tenacity that at the moment, the 42-year old is Pakistan cricket’s most admired personality, towering over everyone else and guiding a young team to No. 1 status, even if briefly. To judge Misbah for his batting alone would be unfair, even though it includes the most phenomenal rear-guard actions over the last decade.

The ‘Rock of Gibraltar’ in Pakistan’s middle order gave them the belief that they can hang in there during tough times and save matches and win matches, ensuring players like Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed and Azhar Ali evolved around him, not to mention Younis Khan’s second wind.

Misbah started late, at the age of 27, but after five Tests in which his returns were poor, he had to cool his feet for another four years. In 2007, Misbah played five Tests, slamming two unbeaten centuries, little knowing that the next Test he would play would come 14 months later. From then on, he has been a regular. Captaincy came his way and Misbah showed that Pakistan can do with some steel instead of flair.

In 69 Tests, Misbah scored 4875 runs at 47.79 with 10 centuries and 36 half-centuries – excellent, considering for most of those matches, he walked into a crisis with a weak batting order. Misbah has also scored 5122 runs in 162 ODIs at 43.40.