April 7, 2017 by admin

Misbah to hang up boots after West Indies series

Lahore, Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq will quit international cricket after the three-Test series in West Indies beginning later this month, the veteran batsman announced on Thursday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) put Misbah in charge of the Test team for the three matches in West Indies on Wednesday with chairman Shaharyar Khan making it clear that it would be the last series for the player, who turns 43 next month.
“It will be my last series and I had conveyed this to the chairman (Pakistan Cricket Board) quite some time ago,” Misbah said at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
“I will try to finish it on a high note…There was no pressure on me,” he said, adding he initially wanted to quit after the 2015 series against England in the United Arab Emirates.
Pakistan suffered six consecutive Test defeats and lost series in New Zealand and Australia, which triggered speculation about Misbah’s future as the Test captain. Admired for his unflappable temperament in a Pakistan dressing room teeming with mercurial talents, Misbah was
handed the Test captaincy after a 2010 spot-fixing scandal in England which led to a ban on, among others, predecessor Salman Butt.
Since his 2001 Test debut in New Zealand, Misbah has gone on to make 4951 runs from 72 matches at a 45-plus average. The top order batsman also played 162 ODIs before quitting the format after the 2015 World Cup.