Pakistani Legend Misbah Ul Haq

 Misbah Ul Haq is Pakistan's most successful test captain with 26 test wins. He is way ahead of Imran Khan in terms of test wins who is second on the list of most successful Pakistani test captains with 14 wins but on the otherhand Misbah ul Haq has also led Pakistan to most lost matches with 19 losses. Misbah maybe Pakistan's most successful test captain but he wasnt as successful ODI captain as Imran Khan and is often said Misbah's ODI captaincy as old fashioned and he followed old tactics that Pakistan used to follow in the 1980's and 1990's. Misbah ul Haq was following Pakistan's ancient tactics of the 1992 World Cup in the ODI format of the game. The tactics which were followed by Misbah ul Haq included preserving wickets at the start of the innings until the 35th over and then trying to increase the run rate by going for long and big hits in the last fifteen overs in the innings. All those tactics were followed by cricket teams in the 1980's and 1990's in ODI cricket but modern day tactics are different. 

In modern day cricket especially in ODI cricket you need to improvise and play innovative cricket by increasing the run rate throughout the fifty overs by playing shots all round the ground in all 360 degrees direction. On the otherhand Misbah uL Haq followed Imran Khan's tactics of 1992 world cup until he retired after the 2015 World Cup in Australia in ODI cricket. This is the reason why Misbah ul Haq wasnt  as successful ODI captain as much as he was a successful test captain. As a test captain he was as master tactician as Imran Khan and led Pakistan to a lot of test wins.

As a player he started his career late and made his test debut in 2001 tour of New Zealand. Then he failed to impress not only the selectors but also any Pakistani fan. His selection was mainly stopped due to the presence of Inzamam and Yousuf in the team. When Inzamam retired in 2007 Misbah ul Haq finally made it into the Pakistani team. His style of batting was often regarded as defensive but he could hit the ball a long way if the situation demanded big hits.

In 2017 Misbah ul Haq retired from all forms of international cricket after leading Pakistan to a historic test series win 2-1 against West Indies. Misbah Ul Haq will always be remembered in the history of Pakistani cricket as the most successful Pakistan test captain.

Pakistani Legend Shahid Afridi

No Pakistani cricketer was as attractive, crowd pleasing, enigmatic and charismatic as Shahid Khan Afridi. This Pakistani legend in only his second one day international scored the fastest century off only 37 deliveries against Sri Lanka in a four nation ODI tournament in Nairobi,Kenya in 1996. This record was a world record for many years in One Day International cricket until it was beaten by Corey Anderson of New Zealand against a weak West Indies team. Shahid Afridi was not only a very hard hitting batsman but a very skilful spin bowler too. As a bowler Shahid Afridi had a great leg break, a very effective googly, a top spinner and a quicker delivery which used to surprise many great batsmen. Shahid Afridi had all those variations as a leg spin bowler.

The tournament which really made Shahid Afridi a hero was the Carlton and United Series in Australia in 1996/1997. Shahid Afridi proved himself to be a match winning all rounder in that tournament making Man of the match performances in the finals of that tournament against West Indies. Shahid Afridi's clean bowled of Greg Blewett in a match against Australia in that tournament in Adelaide of a fast inswinging delivery brought him instant fame and was very memorable indeed. Pakistan's triumph in that tournament was Pakistan's only victory in so many triangular World Series Cup tournaments in Australia and Shahid Afridi played a key role in that victorious tournament for Pakistan. Wasim Akram was Pakistan's captain in that tournament.

In test cricket Shahid Afridi who although made a very successful test debut against Australia and made quite a memorable performances like his knock against India of 141 in the Chennai test in 1999 never regarded himself as a test cricketer. That's the reason why he abruptly retired in test cricket in 2010. Although as an ODI cricketer and as a Twenty20 cricketer he had quite a career. In Twenty20 cricket he played a key role in Pakistan's ICC WorldTwenty20 title in 2009. In ODI cricket his consecutive sixes off Ravichandran Ashwin which won a thriller against India in Asia Cup in 2014 made him a hero in Pakistani cricket. That sixes of Afridi was a big gift for Pakistan as Pakistani rarely win against India nowadays.

In 2016 after leading Pakistan to a disastrous World Twenty20 campaign in India, Shahid Afridi retired from all forms of cricket and that was an end of an era. Shahid Afridi will always be remembered for his hard hitting batting, his style of play and for his variations in bowling which was innovative and trend setting.

Pakistani Legend Wasim Akram

There has never been a greater Left hand bowler in the history of world cricket let alone Pakistani cricket than Wasim Akram. Wasim Akram alongwith his partner Waqar Younis were known as the Sultan's of swing. Wasim Akram could swing the ball both ways that is inswing, outswing and was expert in late swing also which is known as reverse swing making him a lethal pace bowler. Wasim Akram could not only swing the ball , he used to swing the ball at extremely high speeds. Alongwith his bowling partner at the other end Waqar Younis , Wasim Akram also used to bowl toe crushing lethal yorkers just like Waqar Younis. Both Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis learnt the art of reverse swing from their captain and maestro the great all rounder Imran Khan.

Wasim Akram with 502 ODI wickets is the second highest wicket taker in ODI cricket behind the retired Sri Lankan off spinner Mutaiha Muralitharan who has above 800 wickets in ODI cricket. Wasim Akram has got a lot of variety in his bowling. He can not only bowl at extreme pace but also has a very good slower ball showing variety in his bowling. He alongwith Waqar Younis bowled Pakistan to a lot of memorable victories. During Wasim-Waqar era Pakistan used to defend meagre and very low totals. They used to defend totals set by the inept Pakistani batting at that time which Pakistan were sure to lose but only Wasim-Waqar in those days were capable of defending such totals. Wasim Akram was known to get the top order batsmen out regularly while Waqar Younis was known to get the lower order and tailenders out regularly.

Wasim Akram was Pakistan's main strike bowler in the 1992 World Cup with 19 wickets. His clean bowling of Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis in the 1992 World Cup Final of consecutive deliveries which swung a mile is very memorable indeed.

Wasim Akram also led Pakistan to quite a lot of memorable victories as captain, particularly the Carlton and United Series in 1996/1997, The Asian test Championship in 1999 and to the 1999 World Cup Final only to lose to a rampaging Australian team in the 1999 World Cup Final.

After the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, after Pakistan's disastrous campaign where they lost all their matches against good opposition in the league matches and won only against minnows Holland and Namibia, Wasim Akram the great Pakistani paceman retired from all forms of international cricket.

Pakistani Legend Javed Miandad.

No Pakistani cricketer was ever as charismatic and as technically sound as Javed Miandad. Javed Miandad was not only very technically sound but was also known for his exceptional fighting abilities especially against Pakistan's arch rivals India. Javed Miandad in his era was known as the finest Pakistani batsmen ever produced. When Javed Miandad retired from international cricket after the Bangalore World Cup Quarter Final against India in 1996, the entire Indian population thanked God and made huge sigh of relief which shows Javed Miandad's dominance over India.

   Javed Miandad made such a huge impact on India that after Miandad's six off the last ball win over India in Sharjah in 1986, Pakistan always started as favourites against India from there on and really dominated India after that six off the bowling of Chetan Sharma by Miandad.

Javed Miandad held the Pakistani record of scoring most runs for Pakistan in test cricket. He scored 8,832 runs in test cricket which was a record for Pakistani batsmen in test cricket until it was beaten by Younis Khan who scored over 10,000 runs in test cricket. Miandad's 23 centuries and 43 fifties were a Pakistani record until it was beaten by Inzamam ul Haq. Javed Miandad scored six double centuries during his test career which is a Pakistani record.

Pakistan recorded their first win in a major tournament in Austral-Asia Cup in 1986 in Sharjah when Javed Miandad  played that heroic innings against India in the Final. After that innings Javed Miandad became a national hero.

Javed Miandad also captained Pakistan in test cricket and was also head coach of Pakistan for many years. There has never been a Pakistani cricketer whom the opposition used to fear that he can win a match on his own for Pakistan, only Miandad could do that for Pakistan and that's why he is a Pakistani legend.

Pakistani Legend Imran Khan

There have been many Pakistani cricketers who have captained Pakistan but there has never been a Pakistani captain as inspirational, tactically proficient and shrewd as Imran Khan. Imran Khan as the statistics show is Pakistan's second most successful captain after Misbah Ul Haq with 14 test wins as captain of Pakistan cricket team. Imran Khan is the only Pakistani captain to have lead Pakistan to a World Cup win in 1992 which is Pakistan's solitary World Cup win in the 50 over format of the game. They did come close in 1999 World Cup when Wasim Akram led Pakistan team reached the final only to lose to a rampaging Australian team in 1999 World Cup final. Pakistan has never come even close to a World Cup win ever since which makes Imran Khan's achievement of a World Cup win for Pakistan even more remarkable.

Imran Khan's captaincy is not only known for the World Cup win in 1992 but also for many other memorable series victories like the Nehru Cup in India, beating England in England in a test series in 1987 and also for defeating India in India in 1987 after a thrilling test match in Bangalore.

Imran Khan is also known for being a great All rounder. He was rated as great as and in the category of great all rounders like Ian Botham, Sir Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev and Sir Garfield Sobers. He was not only known for his great pace bowling but also known for his hard hitting batting. Imran Khan took over 362 test wickets and scored over 3000 runs which proves he was a great all rounder. But after suffering from a serious back injury, Imran Khan was reduced from a fast bowler with extreme pace to a medium pacer particularly in the 1992 World Cup.

Imran Khan retired after the shock 1987 World Cup loss to Australia in the semi finals but upon the continued persuasion of Zia Ul Haq the then Pakistani president Imran Khan came out of retirement and that proved to be a wise decision because after that decision Imran Khan led Pakistan to it's only world cup win in 1992 at the age of 39.

Pakistani legend Inzamam ul Haq

There have been many players for Pakistan but no player guaranteed Pakistan a win as much as Inzamam whenever he played a substantial innings. It has been said and looking at the statistics whenever Inzamam averaged above 35 runs Pakistan won it's matches 75 percent of the times. it clearly shows that no one is a bigger match winner than Inzamam in Pakistan cricket.

    In the 1992 World Cup Semi final , Imran Khan and Javed Miandad slow batting had left Pakistan way behind the asking run rate. In stepped Inzamam whose innnings of 60 runs of 37 balls proved to be a match winnings innings when Pakistan were chasing 262 runs for victory in their 50 overs and Inzamam coming in with Pakistan score at 140 for 4. Inzamam played a key role in Pakistan's World Cup victory in 1992. Inzamam although was new to international cricket but made a huge impact at the 1992 World Cup. It was indication of  a new World talent and of greater things to come from him.

In 2003 almost immediately after World Cup, Inzamam was made the captain of Pakistan cricket team. This was after being dropped from a four nation tournament in Sharjah.

 In 2007 World Cup shortly after the untimely death of Bob Woolmer the then Pakistan cricket coach, Inzamam retired from ODI cricket after leading Pakistan to a disastrous first round exit. Pakistan lost to Ireland in that World Cup who at that moment were only an associate side.

In 2016 Inzamam was made the chief selector of Pakistan cricket team. Under his selection, Pakistan won the ICC Champions trophy in 2017 and were briefly ranked no. 1 in test cricket. They are currently ranked no.1 in Twenty20 ICC rankings. In this way Inzamam ul Haq a legend and a match winner is continuing to serve Pakistani cricket.

Pakistani legend Younis Khan

Younis Khan is Pakistan's highest scorer in test cricket. Younis Khan has over 10,000 runs in test more than any Pakistani and very much above Javed Miandad and Inzamam ul Haq who have scored over 8000 runs. On the otherhand , in comparison Younis Khan is a more defensive batsmen than either Miandad and Inzamam. Younis Khan was a more workmanlike accumulator of runs and thus more watchful batsman than either Miandad or Inzamam that's why he wasnt a successful batsman in the ODI format of the game. In ODI cricket you need a more sense of urgency which was lacking in Younis Khan's style of batting. His strike rate in ODI cricket was also too low to consider him as a good ODI batsman.Therefore I see no reason why he fought with the PCB in the past to include him in the ODI team particularly in the World Cup 2015 squad where he performed poorly. Neverthless there is no denying fact that he was a very talented and excellent test batsmen. He also led Pakistan to it's only Twenty20 title in 2009 when he was captain of the Pakistani cricket team in the ICC World Twenty20 of 2009.