Reviews, Opinions, Analyses, Stats and Numbers

Captain Misbah vs Captain Imran - A Numerical Review


Published in ScoreLine on October 27, 2016

With the conclusion of 2nd Test between Pakistan and West Indies at Abu Dhabi, Misbah has now equaled the record of Imran Khan for representing Pakistan as a captain in the most number of Test matches. Inevitably, it has triggered the urge to compare the two stalwarts of Pakistan Test Cricket history – the two Niazis from Mianwali.
To start off, they both have now captained a Test side 48 times which stands as 14th highest in the overall list of most matches as a Test captain in the history of the game. Here’s how their names stand in all time list of most matches as Test Captain.


Continue Reading on Scoreline Portal: http://scoreline.asia/captain-misbah-vs-captain-imran-a-numerical-review/

Although the tally of Misbah and Imran looks ordinary in the overall list, in a Cricketing set up as volatile and unstable as Pakistan’s, this is no ordinary achievement by any means. Out of 30 players who captained Pakistan in 401 Tests, only 1 in 6 (5 of them) managed to lead the side in 25 or more Tests, almost 1 in 2 (16 of them) led the side in less than 10 Test matches while almost 1 in 3 (9 captains) captained in 5 or less Test Matches played by Pakistan.

In the context of winning the Test matches as captain, Misbah has outperformed every other captain of Pakistan by a long distance. With 24 wins, Misbah stands well clear of Imran Khan who comes next in the list, tied with another Pakistani legend, Javed Miandad, with 14 wins.
On the other hand, Misbah also stands as the captain who has lost the highest number of Test matches for Pakistan with 13 losses. Imran Khan lost only 8 Tests as Pakistan Captain that reflects the general tendency of most matches ending in a draw and lower probability of Test matches producing a result during Imran’s tenure as a captain.
In between, Misbah and Imran, there appears Inzamam who occupies the 2nd spot with 11 Test losses as a captain, interestingly, as many as the number of Tests he won as captain for Pakistan. The higher number of Test wins and losses for both Misbah and Inzamam hints at the rise in proportion of decisive encounters in Test Cricket during last decade or so – since the arrival of T20 Cricket.


Won
Captain

Lost
Captain
1
24
Misbah-ul-Haq
1
13
Misbah-ul-Haq
2
14
Imran Khan
2
11
Inzamam-ul-Haq
3
14
Javed Miandad
3
8
Imran Khan
4
12
Wasim Akram
4
8
Wasim Akram
5
11
Inzamam-ul-Haq
5
7
Waqar Younis
6
10
Waqar Younis
6
6
Javed Miandad
7
8
Mushtaq Mohammad
7
6
AH Kardar
8
7
Saleem Malik
8
6
Mohammad Yousuf
9
6
AH Kardar
9
5
Intikhab Alam
10
4
Moin Khan
10
4
Mushtaq Mohammad
11
4
Rashid Latif
11
4
Saeed Anwar
12
3
Zaheer Abbas
12
4
Javed Burki
13
2
Hanif Mohammad
13
3
Saleem Malik
14
2
Fazal Mahmood
14
3
Salman Butt
15
2
Mohammad Yousuf
15
3
Younis Khan
16
2
Salman Butt
16
2
Moin Khan
17
1
Intikhab Alam
17
2
Hanif Mohammad
18
1
Younis Khan
18
2
Fazal Mahmood
19
1
Saeed Anwar
19
2
Aamer Sohail
20
1
Aamer Sohail
20
2
Rameez Raja
21
1
Rameez Raja
21
2
Asif Iqbal
22
0
Asif Iqbal
22
2
Wasim Bari
23
0
Wasim Bari
23
2
Imtiaz Ahmed
24
0
Javed Burki
24
2
Shoaib Malik
25
0
Imtiaz Ahmed
25
1
Rashid Latif
26
0
Majid Khan
26
1
Zaheer Abbas
27
0
Saeed Ahmed
27
1
Mohammad Hafeez
28
0
Shoaib Malik
28
1
Shahid Afridi
29
0
Mohammad Hafeez
29
0
Majid Khan
30
0
Shahid Afridi
30
0
Saeed Ahmed

Translating the number of wins and losses into the percentage of number of Tests won or lost by a Test captain provides a good measure of how all Test captains of Pakistan would have fared had all of them captained equal number of tests, and where Misbah and Imran would stand in that list.




To exclude makeshift/stand-in captains, numbers of captain in less than 5 Tests excluded



Interestingly, if the measure is set to ratio of number of Tests Won versus the number of Tests lost by a captain, the ratio of Misbah and Imran are almost identical. If compared with the same ratio of all other Test Captains (who won at least 1 Test as captain), Misbah and Imran stands at 7th and 8th in the list, respectively.


Win Loss Ratio
Captain
Mat
Won
Lost
1
4
Rashid Latif
6
4
1
2
3
Zaheer Abbas
14
3
1
3
2.33
Javed Miandad
34
14
6
4
2.33
Saleem Malik
12
7
3
5
2
Mushtaq Mohammad
19
8
4
6
2
Moin Khan
13
4
2
7
1.85
Misbah-ul-Haq
48
24
13
8
1.75
Imran Khan
48
14
8
9
1.5
Wasim Akram
25
12
8
10
1.43
Waqar Younis
17
10
7
11
1
Inzamam-ul-Haq
31
11
11
12
1
AH Kardar
23
6
6
13
1
Hanif Mohammad
11
2
2
14
1
Fazal Mahmood
10
2
2
15
0.67
Salman Butt
5
2
3
16
0.5
Aamer Sohail
6
1
2
17
0.5
Rameez Raja
5
1
2
18
0.33
Mohammad Yousuf
9
2
6
19
0.33
Younis Khan
9
1
3
20
0.25
Saeed Anwar
7
1
4
21
0.2
Intikhab Alam
17
1
5


Coming back to comparison of records of specifically Misbah and Imran, the following tables provides a summary of their Test Captaincy record including all Test Matches and Test Series results.












Moving on to Test Series results, Misbah looks to have outperformed the great Khan by quite a margin


Breaking down the Test Results Summary on home and away basis leads to some interesting readings. There is not much difference in the home record. Neither Misbah nor Imran ever lost a home series and win and loss percentages at home are pretty identical as well. The only difference in it is the fact that in case of Misbah, all his home games have taken place in UAE instead of Pakistan.
It’s the away record where Misbah seems to have outperformed Imran, where Misbah has almost double the win percentage and half the loss percentage as of Imran.


That’s how far numbers and stats can assist us. On the whole, Misbah’s numbers look overwhelming, however, what it does not factor in is the quality of opposition and playing conditions, and that’s where the description of greatness lies.

Away from home, Imran Khan managed to win only 2 Test Series as compared to Misbah’s 5. But those 2 of Imran’s Test series wins came against England and India which were first of its kind and considered herculean assignment in that day and age. Among the 3 Test series Imran drew away from home, 2 of them – 1986 tour to Sri Lanka and 1987 tour to West Indies – are remembered more for highly debated umpiring (unsatisfactory, to say the least) by the home umpires.

Whereas, out of Misbah’s 5 away Test Series wins, 2 came against Bangladesh, 1 against Zimbabwe and 1 against Sri Lanka without Mahela and where Sangakkara retired before the final Test. On the other hand, Misbah failed to win the away series against Zimbabwe in 2013 and against a West Indies side of 2011. He also failed to win the series in England after winning the first Test and still managing to lose the third Test from an apparently undefeatable position. As for away losses, 2013 tour to South Africa was practically a tame-surrender and 2014 tour to Sri Lanka proved to be Pakistan’s contribution to Mahela’s farewell where Pakistan managed to lose the matches from less challenging positions.

As for Home Series, Imran’s 2 drawn Test Series against the West Indians of 80’s were as good as a win and India’s tour of 1989 left nothing much to write about except for debuts of future greats on either side.
Misbah’s drawn series at home turf carries lesser weight. Against New Zealand in 2014 and South Africa in 2013, Misbah’s men failed to protect the advantage of winning the first Test in a 2-Match series and lost the final Tests of the series on both occasions to let the visitors level the series. In 2013/14, against Sri Lanka in UAE, the series was all but lost till that final hour of the series at Sharjah that recorded a record run chase under fading light.

To his credit, Misbah did manage to beat England and Australia, the reigning number one ranked Test sides at that point, while Imran didn’t manage to achieve any such feat at home. On the flip side, nothing can match the stature, pressures and level of competition of an India Pakistan series. Historically, India and Pakistan series made or broke many a careers on either side of the border and Misbah never went through that test of strength and toughness as a Test Captain. He never faced the arch rivals, India, in either home or away Test series – a test that Imran took and came out with flying colors.

Australia and England remained pretty much the same during the tenures of both Misbah and Imran. Both of them defeated Australia at home while Imran lost to Australia in Australia twice. Imran never faced England at home while Misbah defeated England on both the occasions at home, however, Imran defeated England in England while Misbah managed only a draw.

If the current rankings of the teams are added to this comparison, South Africa of Misbah’s tenure can be equated to West Indies of Imran’s time. While the competition between South Africa and Misbah’s men remained mostly one-sided against Pakistan, Imran did manage to raise his men as not only competent opponent but also a genuine threat to that fearsome West Indies side.

If Imran had the luxury to inflate his records by playing much lower ranked sides like Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and West Indies of this decade, and if he wouldn’t have to deal with the dodgy umpiring on away tours, Imran’s number would have definitely looked much better. 

On the other hand, had Misbah succeeded in preventing Zimbabwe and West Indies from a series loss in their own backyards and if he had managed to win the series against South Africa and New Zealand by not losing the final Tests of the series, his numbers would have carried more weight and context.


Imran Khan earned his stature by becoming the first Pakistan captain to defeat India in India and England in England. Misbah also has a chance to join that league, only if he manages to become the first Test captain of Pakistan to defeat Australia in Australia and West Indies in West Indies in the forthcoming tours. But as it stands, Misbah looks to have clear edge on quantitative basis but on qualitative basis, Misbah ul Haq still has a lot to do to come even close to the greatness of Imran Khan as a Test captain. 



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Net rankings of Cricketing nations




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The Significance of Number 1 Ranking for Pakistan

With rain preventing any significant play at Port of Spain, Pakistan has become the number 1 ranked Test side in the world. Although, the tag of “the best in the world” needs no additives to make it sweeter but in case of Pakistan, the rarity of this occurrence is what magnifies the significance of this feat for the Pakistan Cricket and its fans. 

It is the first time for Pakistan to stand as officially the best Test side in the world since the introduction of ICC official ranking in 2003. During this period of just over 13 years, only four teams have claimed the custody of that MACE and not surprisingly, Australians held it (83 months) longer than everyone else combined (76 months).





But Test Cricket has been around since much earlier than 2003, in fact, till mid 70s – before the start of ODI World Cups – Test Cricket was the only format of Cricket to gauge the brilliance of Cricketing nations. Naturally, other teams also feared better than the rest during that pre-2003 era and it may look harsh not to acknowledge the teams who performed the best in that era, especially the West Indies of late 70s and 80s. Additionally, it also helps in benchmarking the performance of leading sides of last two decades with that of teams of previous decades and century.

To address the same thought, ICC did apply its current rating system, some years ago, to results since 1952 providing ratings for the end of each month back to 1952. 1952 was chosen as the starting point as prior to this date, the number of competing Test teams was small and the frequency of matches was quite low as well. The information used to be available on ICC official website till few years ago but it is not available there any more. Fortunately, found that table in one of the archives that looks like this:



This retrospective listing shows that although Pakistan has claimed the MACE for the first time in its history but, had the ICC Test Rankings were in place since Pakistan started playing Test Cricket, it would not have been the first time. Pakistan would have claimed it earlier as well, though only for a brief period of 2 months – from August 1988 to September 1988.

Both of these listings also provide a good opportunity to measure the share of dominance of different teams in the last 64 years (since 1952). In case all the months (in which a team remained number 1 in Tests) are added together, it gives a good measure of the period of dominance of specific teams.



This concluding picture highlights the significance of ‘Number 1 Test Team’ tag for Pakistan. For Australia, losing the MACE may not be as significant as it is for Pakistan to get hold of it. After remaining acknowledged as one of the most competitive sides in the Test Cricket Arena since admission to it, the title of ‘The Best Test team in the world’ has eluded Pakistan for a long time. Admiring and seeing the talent and excellence of their players getting admired by others as well, Pakistani fans have longed for it for too long. So long, that it has almost become a life long wish for quite a few fans.


Finally, the wait is over and Pakistan is crowned the new holder of the throne. That MACE is Pakistan’s to hold, at least for some time and celebrations have just begun. To make it all even more prestigious, who better to receive that MACE than Misbah ul Haq – the rightful custodian of the MACE – without whose custody of the Team Pakistan, it would have self-destructed itself yet another time before achieving this feat. Well done Misbah, Well done Team Pakistan. 
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Changes required in Pakistan squad before Edgbaston Test

Nobody needs to be changed, yet there are quite a few things that needs to be changed. Players are not performing, yes this is true. But, in the Lord's Test, England lost because English players didn't perform either. They didn't make the changes on the premise of getting rid of some players rather bringing the better players back in the side.

This is the best lot Pakistan has unless someone is called from Pakistan or inserted into the squad from A side that is also touring England. This squad should get a full run and play the other 2 Tests as well. They have done the harder part of struggling to adjust and now they are the most probable to adjust and perform; not the ones who have only served water and towels in the last month or so.

If they don't perform, they should be dropped for good and sent to NCA for correction of issues that resulted in their underperformance. But, for now, Pakistan should stick to a plan and play it out rather than changing things for the sake of it. There is no point making changes that reflect more of a hope for things to get better by itself or desperation to relieve the public pressure rather than being part of a well thought out and long term plan.

If the players we have on the bench are any way better than the ones playing than before doing anything else, someone should be held accountable for it so that such errors can be avoided in the future. Someone must answer why better and more competent players were made to warm the benches till now. If they are not better than the ones playing then let the better players try to produce better results.

Neither the next Test is going to be Final Test nor this series is going to be the last series of Pakistan's history. Results may come and may not. In a dependent and competitive environment, results are never in hands of anyone and nobody can guarantee the results. Therefore, its pointless to make changes based on results. What one can focus on instead, and even guarantee is the process and procedure that is going to be adopted for the results.

Its time Pakistan look to correct its processes and procedures rather than continuing to protect it by sacrificing one player after the another. 
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