Without any doubt, the moment of day 1 in the eagerly anticipated series belonged to Pakistan skipper Misbah ul Haq. Playing his first Test on English soil, the 42-year old etched his name on the Lords honors board with a stirring knock.
Yet again walking into a precarious situation at 77/3, the seasoned campaigner refused to flinch at any instance and showed his team how it is done. In tandem with Asad Shafiq, Misbah thwarted everything that England threw at him to end the day with an unbeaten ton.
Upon reaching three figures, his unique celebration of executing ten push-ups was a testament to the training provided by the Pakistan Army in Abbottabad. Let us take a look at the records smashed aside by one of the most fittest batsman going around in the circuit.
1 – The man from Mianwali (aged 42 years, 46 days) became the oldest captain to ever score a Test ton by eclipsing Australia's Bob Simpson (aged 41 years, 359 days) who had managed the feat against India in Adelaide.
1 – Older visiting batsmen than Misbah to score more than fifty runs in Tests in England. Warren Bardsley had posted 193* at the same venue in 1926.
2 – Number of fifth wicket partnerships at Lords for Pakistan greater than his 148-run stand with Asad Shafiq.
4 – Fifty-plus scores by a Pakistani captain during their maiden Test innings in England. He joined Hanif Mohammad, Javed Miandad and Inzamam ul Haq to achieve this feat.
4 – Batsmen with over 1000 Test runs after turning 40. Misbah needs just 19 more runs to move past Tom Graveney into third place.
6 – The right-hander became the sixth oldest centurion in Test cricket after Jack Hobbs, Patsy Hendren, Warren Bardsley, Dave Nourse and Frank Woolley.
7 – Pakistani batsmen who have scored a hundred at Lords. Apart from him, Javed Burki, Nasim-ul-Ghani, Hanif Mohammad, Mohsin Khan, Inzamam ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf have also done the same.
7 – Century stands between Misbah and Shafiq for the fifth wicket in Test matches which was the most by any pair. The record had previously belonged to Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh with six such partnerships.
7 – Consecutive tosses won by Pakistan under him which was the most in their Test history.
60 – Years after which a batsman aged 42 or more registered a century in the sport’s traditional format.
69 – Total uninterrupted months for Misbah as skipper which was the longest unchanged stint in Pakistan’s Test history. Their inaugural captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar had 66 months at the helm.
92 – Highest score by a Pakistani batsman in their last Test tour to England. Going past Azhar Ali’s effort at The Oval, Misbah remained not out on 110.
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