England’s progression from a wretched early exit at the 2015 World Cup to worthy finalists at the 2019 edition is well documented. After crashing out of the 2015 tournament? at the hands of Bangladesh with their approach and skillset proving vastly unsuited to the modern game, England reinvented themselves as an ODI team. A new coach was brought in and with him a new approach: attack, attack, attack. The results were immediate and impressive. In their first ODI with head man Trevor Bayliss at the helm, England smashed their first ever 400-plus score in the format against New Zealand in a series which also saw them complete their (at the time) highest successful run-chase. A new era had not only dawned, but had well and truly been ushered in.

The next few years saw this revitalised approach bring England unprecedented levels of success in the format, not only in terms of results, but also in terms of the many records broken. There was the highest 10-wicket run chase in history (since surpassed by South Africa), achieving a world-record score against Pakistan and doin?g so again against Australia in 2018 as part of their first ever 5-0 series whitewash. These are just a sample of the at times stunning feats the team accomplished as they refined their blitzkrieg method and rose to the top of the ODI rankings in the leadup to the 2019 World Cup.

It was not smooth sailing all the way. The mountainous highs were punctuated by the occasional abysmal low, mostly when the flaws in England’s approach with the bat (one-dimensional for all its success) were exposed, but also when their bowling – by now their weaker suit by far – was shown to be less adept at defending a total than their batsmen were at setting one. It was these chinks in the side’s armour which led to many people question whether, for all the improvement on show, England’s new paradigm of ODI cricket might just let them down when it mattered the most.

Indeed, it had already proved to be the team’s downfall on the more modest, but still important stage of the 2017 Championsâ€?Trophy. Having breezed through the group stages of that tournament, England faltered in their semi-final against Pakistan. Having grown fat on a diet of flat, batting-friendly pitches, England stumbled on a trickier – but by no means unplayable â€?surface. They were bowled out for a disappointing 211 before their bowlers put in an underwhelming performance of their own, taking only 2 Pakistani wickets as the eventual tournament victors eased their way into the final.

England returned to their?? (mostly) winning ways after the conclusion of the Champions�Trophy but their renewed successes were interspersed with a few abject failures which indicated their struggles in tougher conditions were not a thing of the past. Most?? notably against Australia on their 2017/18 tour there, they sunk to 8-5 before managing to stage something of a recovery. As late as early 2019, a dismal capitulation against the West Indies only intensified fans�concerns that an inability to adapt their game would prove to be England’s undoing in the now fast-approaching World Cup. While their series of high scores in their final pre-tournament series against Pakistan were impressive they didn’t tell anyone anything they didn’t already know.

Ahead of the World Cup, England had sought to go some distance to covering their other weakness �their bowling �by calling up Barbadian-born fast bowler Jofra Archer, who became eligible to represent England after a change to their residency period rules to bring them directly in line with ICC regulations. A decent showing against Pakistan secured his spot in the World Cup squad and provided a welcome boost the Engl?and’s bowling lineup. The side ?then had to deal with the critics of their now-established approach to ODI batting, both in terms of conditions and whether it would stand up to the additional pressure of World Cup Cricket.

The question of conditions was thrown into sharper focus when it soon became apparent that the pitches in use during the tournament would not be the batting paradises many had expected (and indeed feared), but would invariably offer at least something for the bowlers to work with. It too became apparent that – due to pitches or pressure – chasing totals in this World Cup was significantly harder than had generally been observed in the many bilateral series played over the last few years. This was another potential stumbling-block for England as they had found most of their recent success whilst chasing.

In fact, their first loss of the tournament would turn out to be a failed chase against Pakistan. Set 349 to win, England never looked as assured as they had whilst chasing similar totals against the same team just weeks earlier. A pair of superb i?nnings from Joe Root and Jos Buttler took their response to an impressive level of respectability, but the match left observers who had suggested that England would be unable to replicate their feats of recent times in a genuine pressure environment feeling vindicated.

England won their next few matches comforta??bly, with a clinical bowling per?formance against the West Indies giving hope that that particular weakness had been somewhat mitigated. However their other problems reared their heads when, having restricted Sri Lanka to what appeared to be an eminently gettable 232, they proceeded to falter in their chase. This was due to excellent bowling from Lasith Malinga, but more pertinently due to an enduring hole in their batting game when playing on slower pitches.

Having now lost two matches they had been widely expected to win, England were now faced with the tough task of needing to win two of their next three matches to guarantee a semi-final spot. Their opponents – Australia, India, New Zealand â€?were likely semi-finalists so England with pressure mounting would have to perform against their toughest opponents of the tournament.

When they fell comfortably short of chasing a target of 286 against Australia, justifiable questions over whether, for all their evident improvement, England indeed had what it took to emerge victorious on the biggest stage resurfaced in abundance.. There was an increasing feeling that their limitations had been exposed or that they had simply bottled it. Whilst a team-best World Cup total against Bangladesh and a record-breaking innings from Eoin Morgan against Afghanistan had at least proved that England’s best qualities could translate to a major tournament, they served ??only to reinforce the impression of a team that had focussed on its eye-catching strengths to the detriment of potentially fatal weaknesses. Whatever the reason for their situation, England’s last two games of the round-robin stage of the tournament were effectively knockout affairs and they were under severe pressure to perform

Memorable cricketing performances, whether by a team or an individual, rarely come without a slice of fortune. This England team’s lucky break came with the chance to bat first on a surface which proved to be far more conducive to run-scoring than those on which they had just lost two co??nsecutive matches. A much-improved score of 337, kickstarted by a maiden World Cup century from Jonny Bairstow and a pair of excellent opening spells from Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer set them up for a convincing win. The confidence gained from this turnaround evidently carried into England’s final match of the round robin stage where Bairstow’s second century in as many games took his team to 305/8. They followed up by bowling New Zealand out for 186 which whilst admittedly assisted by a pair of run-outs �one avoidabl??e and one extremely unlucky �demonstrated that this now-resurgent England team did indeed have all the tools at their disposal to lift the coveted trophy.

England don’t lose at Edgbaston. Australia don’t lose in knockout matches. These two facts clashed head-to-head as the two sides in question met in the second semi-final, with the first having seen New Zealand eliminate India in a thriller. When Australian captain Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat, it appeared that England’s newly-found frailty whilst chasing would be put to the test but a match-defining opening spell saw Australia reduced to 14-3. A century stand between the ever-dependable Steve Smith and Alex Carey, arguably Australia’s find of? the tournament, threatened to defy England until the host nation’s previous weak bowling link in the tournament to date, Adil Rashid, struck to put Australia on the back foot, with only some lower-order resistance fro??m Mitchell Starc allowing them to scrape to 223.

Even at this stage, the natural pes??simist that lives within most fans of English sport was not daring to hope that this chase was as simple as it looked on paper. They needn’t have worried. For the first time since their very similar chase against the West Indies earlier in the tournament, England looked totally at ease as they batted?? their way effortlessly to the total and with it, for the first time in 27 years, the World Cup final.

By getting this far England had answered most of the questions regarding their abilities and resilience – and silenced most of their doubters â€?and relegated their ignominious performance at the previous World Cup to a distant memory. But, for all this, there was general feeling that unless this tournament ended with England lifting the trophy, it would all have been in vain – particularly as the vast improvement enjoyed by the One-Day team was considered by many to have come at the expense of consistency in the Test arena. Moreover, with coach Trevor Bayliss’ post-summer departure having been announced some time in advance, it was clear that all levels of English cricket saw this tournament as their one chance. It was now or never and no-one, least of all the England team, would settle for second best.

What transpired on July 14th need not be recounted here as it is already imprinted – probably forever – into the memories of all who saw its dramatic twists and turns unfold into what many believe the greatest ever One-Day International. A close contest throughout became a wild rollercoaster as it twisted and turned again and again towards its conclusion. It was not without its share of controversy as England overcame their weakness in chasing on a tricky though not impossible pitch which led to a tie, before the finale of a tense Super Over saw them emerge victorious on boundary countback to claim their inaugural World Cup trophy. That a freak stroke of luck (and, it would transpire, an incorrect application of the rules) had saved England from falling agonisingly short and the contrived methodology by which they were awarded the trophy didn’t matter to them. The past four years of tumultuous years of highs, lows, rebirth and banishing the demons of their past had not been in vain. Victory was theirs.

Pakistan is a nation of hero worshipers. Among their heroes are politicians, pop stars and sportsmen. And then there are the cricketers. They are not just heroes, but the means by which an average Pakistani goes about his life. And because they live vicariously through their heroes, they like their heroes cool, stylish, arrogant and brilliant. In a repressed society,?? where the means of repression is based on morality and values and culture, you can’t help but side with the rebels, the outsiders, the ones who constantly have run-ins with authority, the ones who appear to upen??d the rules and hierarchy created for control.

Nothing reflects an average Pakistani’s fascination with heroes better than the position of the Pakistan cricket captain, the man who in the eyes of an average Pakistani stands up to the dysfunctional and archaic institution that is the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)? and produces scintillating performances on the ground despite the system while thumping their nose at the tools of control — the manager, selection committee, chairman etc. This is why this is the most coveted job in Pakistan cricket. This is why at one point Pakistan had a team full of former captains. This is why in the eleven year period between the 1992 and the 2003 World Cup, Pakistan had 9 captains. This is why, Pakistan’s greatest cricketing heroes are almost always former captains — Imran, Miandad, Wasim, Waqar, Anwar, Inzamam.

It is also then of little surprise when the biggest cricketing hero in Pakistan in recent times is Shahid Afridi, another former captain. The hero whose very claim to fame is by smashing the ball as hard as he can, and in the ??process, not just pulverising the opposition, the MCC rule book, cricketing wisdom but sometimes his own team. Afridi has all the traits of an average Pakistani — i?mpatient, talented, temperamental with a total disregard for rules and discipline.

It was in 2010, at the end of one of the various chaotic moments that Pakistan cricket is beset with, when Afridi was asked to take over the captaincy of the national team across all formats. Pakistan were to play 6 Test matches in England, 2 against Australia and 4 against England and such is the uniqueness of Afridi’s charm, that it was not he who? coveted the captaincy but the chairman of the cricket board who coaxed and pleaded to get him to accept it. In typical Afridi fashion, not dissimilar to when he gets himself out playing a shot that has everyone flummoxed; he quit the captaincy after the first test against Australia under bizarre circumstances.

What ?followed next in Pakistan cricket is a black hole so deep that it would consume and overwhelm this piece by? its sheer impact. By end of that summer of 6 Test matches, 3 of Pakistan’s heroes, including the captain who replaced Afridi were facing jail time and ban.

It was under these circumstances that another man, another outsider who was far away from the tumultuous events of 2009�0, was brought back in to the fold to take over the captaincy, the position that Afridi had rejected, Salman Butt had squa??ndered and every cricketer in Pakistan coveted. Only this man, was not a hero.

Misbah protests to the Mountains, the Oceans, the Stars and the Universe, all of ?whom had conspired against him.

“Imran Khan bowls fast off a sexy run up and can bat, Saeed Anwar caresses the ball to the boundary as if time had ??stopped for him, Waqar Younis can crush stumps, toes and everything else that stands between him and his yorkers. What can you do that makes you think you can be their hero?�is the condescending repl??y from the powers that be.

“I am more?? hard working, dedic??ated and fitter than anyone else. I am mentally and physically strong, I never give up, I am a fighter, I have fought and struggled my whole life. I live and breathe cricket�responds Misbah innocuously.

“What makes you think those are qualities they want? in their heroes�

“But no one can become a great cricketer without those qualities, all those Pakistani heroes had these qualities too, so how come they accepte?d them?�reasons Misbah, ever the voice of reason and logic.

“But they had an X factor. Some could make the air deviate the ball at the last min?ute to deceive the batsman, some could stop time and p?lace the ball wherever they wanted, some were born Imran Khan. What’s your X factor?�came the reply.

Misbah is quiet, as he takes time to reflect on this latest query. He thinks for a bit and replies in jubilation “I can hit massive sixes. I hit Shane Warne for 2 massive sixes in my first match against Australia. I was the highest scorer in that game as the entire batting line up collapsed around me. I fought a lone battle like a hero�/p>

The Mountains and the Stars look at each other in confusion. The Ocean looks clueless. The Universe looks around and finally responds, ‘Well, no one really remembers this, but you sound like an honest man, so we’ll believe you if you say so. So we’ll give you an opportunity. We’ll give you a shock comeback in 2007 after Pakistan crash out of the World Cup against Ireland, and we’ll give you an opportunity of a lifetime — First World T20 final against arch rivals India and the only man between India lifting the Cup and crushing the dreams of 180 million Pakistanis is you. All their popular heroes will fail, but not you. You claim to be a fighter who can hit sixes and never gives up? Well this is it. This is your chance to become the hero they think they deserve.�/p>

On 24th September 2007, Mi?sbah would do all the things he had claimed he could do — he would fight, he would not give up, and as everyone else would crumble around him under the massive pressure of playing India in a World Cup final, he would hit his massive sixes to bring Pakistan close to that first World T20 against India of all teams from an impossible situation in a way only a Pakistani hero would. Except for one ball. Th?e one ball that would change history, destiny and while a billion people would cherish that moment, a one eighty million would mourn and it was this one eighty million he was trying to become a hero for. On that day, India got their Harvey Dent in Dhoni, Pakistan got their Dark Knight- the one they would pin all the blame and sins on. The one man who was responsible for all the carnage, the pain, the humiliation of having to lose to India.

I?n The Dark Knight Rises, Misbah along with his team, left without a home to play cricket, made their exodus to UAE. They built a fortress, and achieved the incredible feat of not losing a Test series in 6 years and Misbah in the process becomes Pakistan’s most successful Test captain, going past their greatest cricketing hero. Yet Misbah and his team were never going to get the welcome Muhammad got when he came back to Mecca. This was a man they had rejected and while God helped Muhammad, Misbah, like always found all the forces and powers against him. Team Misbah was just like him — hard working, dedicated, sincere and disciplin?ed. They were never going to win over a nation looking for stumps shattering, Afridi’s silky hair and a time machine to go back to 1992. Everything from their technique, skillset, manhood was up for discussion on TV shows hosting ex cricketers who had successfully managed to erase every memory of their defeats not just on foreign soil but also at home. Indeed, Pakistan lost 6 out of 9 series at home between 1995 and 2001. The 90s teams were hailed as heroes. Team Misbah won 5 out of 9 series at ‘home�between 2010 and 2016. Misbah was described as ‘tuk tuk�preventing the team from being ‘aggressive�

Such was the contempt and distrust, that while every team today wins at home and loses overseas, the ‘home�wins ?for Pakistan were dismissed disparagingly with “they will be exposed overseas� Misbah’s team knew this, so they responded with the only way he knew how to — more hard work, more dedication and more training. The team went on a month long boot camp with the militar??y to prepare for their toughest year in Test cricket �2016,  the year they would have to step outside of the deserts of UAE and play on the ‘real pitches�of England and Australia.

It worked. They drew 2� in England, where India and Australia have been ‘exposed�in the past. Misbah, Younis, Azhar, Shafiq, the quartet that had formed Pakistan’s strongest batting line up in years were supposed to get ‘exposed� They responded with a century each. They even became the number 1 team for the first time in their history. The ridicule, criticism and condescension had died.Temporarily. They just waited, sharpening their claws in the process, waiting for the next ??away series for Misbah, Younis, Azhar,? Shafiq to get ‘exposed�for they were going to give this team the recognition and appreciation it deserved. They would just go quiet and wait for the team to fail.

Test cricket is brutal. Heroes get defeated. They get crushed. They get blown to smithereens. Imran Khan’s team were bundled out for 107 at Melbourne in their first test in 1990.. Wasim? Akram led Pakistan’s greatest generation of cricketers to Australia and came back with a 0� scoreline. Inzamam’s team were bundled o?ut for 72 at Perth. Heroes get forgiven. Heroes help you forget.

Team Misbah lost their first series in over 3 years in New Zealand recently. Then came Australia. The one team Pakistan could never match up to. The one t?eam that had always stomped their foot on their pride and reminded them that their brilliant, mercurial, talented heroes were inadequate to overcome the country’s dysfunction, disarray and disorder.

They were blanked 0-3 once again. While the core of the team �the middle order stood up and were able to overcome Australia??’s bowling firepower for most part, it was the bowling, considered Pakistan’s strongest suit that would come undone. In failure, Misbah and his team were finally able to make a lot of people in their country happy, the ones who were waiting with bated?? breath for him and his team to fail. Sport’s double edged sword had sliced through their hearts and crushed it.

In the final scene of The Dark Knight, when Commissioner Gordon is alone with his son, without the public, when he is not Commissioner Gordon but a father, and his son asks him why Batsman is leaving, he tells his son the truth — ‘because he is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now.�This time there is no cynicism or facade. This time he expresses hope,  a belief in the goodness?? of Gotham, a Gotham that deserves Batman, the silent guardian, the watchful protector.

Team Misbah’s golden run might be nearing its end but the team is also changing guard. The crux of the team today are Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali, two men Misbah had trusted and backed wholeheartedly for the last 6 years. In Australia, both of them demonstrated to the world, but more importantly to their nation, the mettle they are made of. Neither of them excite Pakistanis. They are not the batsmen the crowds throng to wat?ch or ask for an autograph and selfie. Yet in the past year, their toughest in test cricket, they demonstrated that they are more than capable of carrying the team forward. Azhar has a double, a triple to go with a couple of centuries in the last 12 months. Shafiq now is the most successful number 6 batsman in Test cricket, and boasts of hundreds in South Africa, England and Australia �the ultimate crown for an Asian batsman.

Team Misbah also has the next generation of Pakistan cricket. He is a father figure to the likes of Sami Aslam, Babar Azam or even a Mohammad Amir seeking redemption. He has guided and helped the likes of Yasir Shah, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz find their footing in Test cricket. All of them have along with Shafiq and Azhar h?ave the potential to be Pakistan’s heroes tomorrow. Whether they will be accepted or not is irrelevant because they have learned something by being part of this team. They have become a different set of rebels just like their captain. They are the heroes who don’t need validation from the world. That was always Misbah’s X-factor.

Pakistan is a nation of hero worshipers. Among their heroes are politicians, pop stars and sportsmen. And then there are the cricketers. They are not just heroes, but the means by which an average Pakistani goes about his life. And because they live vicariously through their heroes, they like their heroes cool, stylish, arrogant and brilliant. In a repressed society, where the means of repression is based on morality and values and culture, you can’t help but side with the rebels, t??he outsiders, the ones who constantly have run-ins with authority, the ones who appear to upend the rules and hierarchy created for control.

Nothing reflects an average Pakistani’s fascination with heroes better than the position of the Pakistan cricket captain, the man who in the eyes of an average Pakistani stands up to the dysfunctional and archaic institution that is the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and produces scintillating performances on the ground despite the system while thumping their nose at the tools of control — the manager, selection committee, chairman etc. This is why this is the most coveted job in Pakistan cricket. This is why at one point Pakistan had a team full of former captains. This is why in the eleven year period between the 1992 and the 2003 World Cup, Pakistan had?? 9 captains. This is why, Pakistan’s greatest cricketing heroes are almost always former captains — Imran, Miandad, Wasim, Waqar, Anwar, Inzamam.

It is also then of little surprise when the biggest cricketing hero i??n Pakistan in r??ecent times is Shahid Afridi, another former captain. The hero whose very claim to fame is by smashing the ball as hard as he can, and in the process, not just pulverising the opposition, the MCC rule book, cricketing wisdom but sometimes his own team. Afridi has all the traits of an average Pakistani — impatient, talented, temperamental with a total disregard for rules and discipline.

It was in 2010, at the end of one of the various chaotic moments that Pakistan cricket is beset with, when Afridi was asked to take over the captaincy of the national team across all formats. Pakistan were to play 6 Test matches in England, 2 against Australia and 4 against England and such is the uniqueness of Afridi’s charm, that it was not he who coveted the captaincy but the chairman of the cricket board who coaxed and pleaded to get him to accept it. In typical? Afridi fashion, not dissimilar to when he gets himself out playing a shot? that has everyone flummoxed; he quit the captaincy after the first test against Australia under bizarre circumstances.

What followed next in P?akistan cricket is a black hole so deep that it would consume and overwhelm this piece by its sheer impact. By end of that summer of 6 Test matches, 3 of Pakistan’s heroes, including the captain who replaced Afridi were facing jail time and ban.

It was under these circumstances that another man, another outsider who was far away from the tumultuous events of 2009�0, was bro??ught back in to the fold to take over the captaincy, the position that Afridi had rejected, Salman Butt had squan??dered and every cricketer in Pakistan coveted. Only this man, was not a hero.

Misbah ul Haq was never going to be Pakistan’s hero. The Univer?se, the Stars, the Oceans and the Mountains had all conspired against him. Pakistan lives vicariously through its heroes, so they need to see them do heroic things physically, like change the course of the wind or make the mountain c??ome to him. They need to see Shoaib Akhtar blow away Tendulkar’s middle stump to accept him as a hero overnight. Misbah attempts to play a short ball from Morkel by awkwardly taking a blow to the body. They need to see Wasim Akram bowl two magical deliveries in a World Cup final. Misbah plays a forward defence without really going forward, by allowing the ball to come to him while he shuffles across and lets it hit the face of his bat instead of pushing it towards the gap for a single. He was discarded and forgotten after a few games in 2001�2, a few opportunities he was given while Pakistan team itself was down in the doldrums.

Misbah protests to the Mountains, the Oceans, the Stars and? the Universe, all of whom had conspired against him.

“Imran Khan bowls fast off a sexy run up and can bat, Saeed Anwar caresses the ball to the boundary as if time had stopped for him, Waqar Younis can crush stumps, toes and everything else that stands between him and his yorkers. What can you do that makes you think? you can be their hero?�is the condescending reply from the powers that be.

“I am more hard workin?g, dedicated and fitter than anyone else. I am mentally and physically strong, I never give up, I am a fighter, I have fought and struggled my whole life. I live and breathe cricket�responds Misbah innocuously.

“What makes you ?think those are qualities they want?? in their heroes�

“But no one can become a great cricketer without those qualities, all those Pakistani heroes had these qualities too, so how come they accepted them?�reasons Misbah, ever the voice of reason and log??ic.

“But they had an X factor. Some could make the air deviate the ball at the last minute to deceive the batsman, som??e could stop time and place the ball wherever they wanted, some were born Imran Khan. What??’s your X factor?�came the reply.

Misbah is quiet, as he takes time to reflect on this latest query. He thinks for a bit and replies in jubilation “I can hit massive sixes. I hit Shane Warne for 2 massive sixes in my first match against Australia. I was the highest scorer in that game as the entire batting line up collapsed around me. I fought a lone battle like a hero�/p>

The Mountains and the Stars look at each other in confusion. The Ocean looks clueless. The Universe looks around and finally responds, ‘Well, no one really remembers this, but you sound like an honest man, so we’ll believe you if you say so. So we’ll give you an opportunity. We’ll give you a shock comeback in 2007 after Pakistan crash out of the World Cup against Ireland, and we’ll give you an opportunity of a lifetime — First World T20 final against arch rivals India and the only man between India lifting the Cup and crushing the dreams of 180 million Pakistanis is you. All their popular heroes will fail, but not you. You claim to be a fighter who can hit sixes and never gives up? Well this is it. This is your chance to become the hero they think they deserve.�/p>

On 24th September 2007, Misbah would do all the things he had claimed he could do — he would fight, he would not give up, and as everyone else would crumble around him under the massive pressure of playing India in a World Cup final, he would hit his massive sixes to bring Pakistan close to that first World T20 against India of all teams from an impossible situation in a way only a Pakistani hero would. Except for one ball. The one ball that would change history, destiny and while a billion people would cherish that moment, a one eighty million would mourn and it was this one eighty million he was trying to become a hero for. On that day, India got their Harvey Dent in Dhoni, Pakistan got their Dark Knight- the?? one they would pin all the blame and sins on. The one man who was responsible for all the carnage, the pain, the humiliation of having to lose to India.

In The Dark Knight Rises, Misbah along with his team, left without a home to play cricket, made their exodus to UAE. They built a fortress, and achieved the incredible feat of not losing a Test series in 6 years and Misbah in the process becomes Pakistan’s most successful Test captain, going past their greatest cricketing hero. Yet Misbah and his te??am were never going to get the welcome Muhammad got when he came back to Mecca. This was a man they had rejected and while God helped Muhammad, Misbah, like always found all the forces and powers against him. Team Misbah was just like him — hard working, dedicated, sincere and disciplined. They were never going to win over a nation looking for stumps shattering, Afridi’s silky hair and a time machine to go back to 1992. Everything from their technique, skillset, manhood was up for discussion on TV shows hosting ex cricketers who had successfully managed to erase every memory of their defeats not just on foreign soil but also at home. Indeed, Pakistan lost 6 out of 9 series at home between 1995 and 2001. The 90s teams were hailed as heroes. Team Misbah won 5 out of 9 series at ‘home�between 2010 and 2016. Misbah was described as ‘tuk tuk�preventing the team from being ‘aggressive�

Such was the contempt and distrust, that while every team today wins at home and loses overseas, the ‘home�wins for Pakist??an were dismissed disparagingly with “they will be exposed overseas� Misbah’s team knew this, so they responded with the only way he knew how to — more hard work, more dedication and more training. The team went on a month long boot camp with the military to prepare for their toughest year in Test cricket �2016,  the year they would have to step outside of the deserts of UAE and play on the ‘real pitches�of England and Australia.

It worked. They drew 2� in England, where India a??nd Australia have been ‘exposed�in the past. Misbah, Younis, Azhar, Shafiq, the quartet that had formed Pakistan’s strongest batting lin??e up in years were supposed to get ‘exposed� They responded with a century each. They even became the number 1 team for the first time in their history. The ridicule, criticism and condescension had died.Temporarily. They just waited, sharpening their claws in the process, waiting for the next away series for Misbah, Younis, Azhar, Shafiq to get ‘exposed�for they were going to give this team the recognition and appreciation it deserved. They would just go quiet and wait for the team to fail.

Test cricket is brutal. Heroes get defeated. They get crushed. They get blown to smithereens?. Imran Khan’s team were bundled out for 107 at Melbourne in their first test in 1990.. Wasim Akram led Pakistan’s greatest generation of cricketers to Australia and came back with a 0� scoreline. Inzamam’s team were bundled out for 72 at Perth. Heroes get forgiven. Heroes help you forget.

Team Misbah lost their first series in over 3 years in New Zealand recently. Then came Australia. The one team Pakistan could never mat?ch up to. The one team that had always stomped their foot on their pride and reminded the?m that their brilliant, mercurial, talented heroes were inadequate to overcome the country’s dysfunction, disarray and disorder.

They were blanked 0-3 once again. While the core of the team �the middle order stood up and were ab?le to overcome Australia’s bowling firepower for most part, it was the bowling, considered Pakistan’s strongest suit that would come undone. In failure, Misbah and his team were finally able to make a lot of people in their country happy, the ones who were waiting with bated breath for him and his team to fail. Sport’s double edged sword had sliced through their hearts and crushed it.

In the final scene of The Dark Knight, when Commissioner Gordon is alone with his son, without the public, when he is not Commissioner Gordon but a father, and his son asks him why Batsman is leaving, he tells his son the truth — ‘because he is the hero Gotham deserves, but?? not the one it needs right now.�This time there is no cynicism or facade. This time he expresses hope,  a belief in the goodness of Gotham, a Gotham that deserves Batman, the silent guardian, the watchful protector.

Team Misbah’s golden run might be nearing its end but the team is also changing guard. The crux of the team today are A??sad Shafiq and Azhar Ali, two men Misbah had trusted and backed wholeheartedly for the last 6 years. In Australia, both of them demonstrated to the world, but more importantly to their nation, the mettle they are made of. Neither of them excite Pakistanis. They are not the batsmen the crowds th??rong to watch or ask for an autograph and selfie. Yet in the past year, their toughest in test cricket, they demonstrated that they are more than capable of carrying the team forward. Azhar has a double, a triple to go with a couple of centuries in the last 12 months. Shafiq now is the most successful number 6 batsman in Test cricket, and boasts of hundreds in South Africa, England and Australia �the ultimate crown for an Asian batsman.

Team Misbah also has the next generation of Pakistan cricket. He is a father figure to the likes of Sami Aslam, Babar Azam or even a Mohammad Amir seeking redemption. He has guided and helped the likes of Yasir Shah, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz find their footing in Test cricket. All of them have along with Shafiq and Azhar have the potential to be Pakistan’s heroes tomorrow. Whether they will be accepted or not is irrelevant because they have learned something by being part of this team. They have become a different set of rebels just like their captain. They are the heroes who don’t need validation from the world. That was always Misbah’s X-factor??.

This is why there is always so much controversy and drama surroun??ding great sporting rivalries. Think of Bodyline, think of Kolkata 99. And then there’s the England-Pakistan drama. Both these cricketing nations have higher profile rivalries with Australia and India respectively. This probably explains why this particular rivalry hasn’t always been talked about in the same vein. But one look at any series between these two and the fierceness and intensity is absolutely unquestionable. To say that the cricketing relationship between England and Pakistan is fraught with controversy, discord and drama that would put a soap opera to shame is easy. Yet it would be reductive to understand this narrative as just a conflict between a new nation and their old colonial masters, in a post-colonial world, although it is a vital part of this relationship. If one begins to peel off the layers and tries to understand this ?relationship, it becomes clear that the most essential element that makes this rivalry so exciting, is that the two parties give each other a lot of importance, fueled by quiet admiration, whether they are always willing to acknowledge this or not.

The story of Pakistan cricket started in England. No, not necessarily with the triumph at Oval. But a bit earlier when the Kardars and the Fazals saw the Huttons and the Truemans and began to dream the same sort of success, adulation and ambition for themselves. As the new generations replaced the old and t?he mantle was passed on to Botham and Khan and Gatting and Akram and now to Cook and Misbah, the rivalry lost none of its fervour and intensity. If anything, the narrative came to encompass issues as diverse as neutral umpiring, reverse swing, forfeiture and spot fixing.

The two rival captains �Alastair Cook and Misbah ul Haq add a fresh and interesting twist to this fascinating story. Misbah at 41 years of age, is his team’s oldest captain, and the oldest cricketer playing today is capped at 61 tests. Alastair Cook, on the other hand, at 30 years of age, is already a veteran of 122 test matches, a lifetime of cricket, that saw two Ashes wins, a win in India and a whitewash in Australia. It is incredible that Cook has already seen so much of cricketing troughs and peaks at such young age. One can look at these statistics and can’t help but feel that they have been reversed by mistake. Yet it’s not like Misbah at 61 tests hasn’t seen enough ups and downs of his own. His tenure as captain saw Pakistan lose a test match in Zimbabwe, a familiar whitewash in South Africa, two consecutive losses in Sri Lanka but also test series wins over Australia, Sri Lanka recently. But perhaps, the crowning achievement in his career, and his most significant contribution to England-Pakistan narrative was the 3-0 win in 2012.
The 2012 series wasn’t without its share of controversies, but most importantly thoug?h, it was one of the most fascinating display of test cricket in recent times. England came into UAE the number one ranked team in the world. This was Eng??land’s golden generation under the leadership of Andrew Strauss-Andy Flower.

The 3-0 score line perhaps flattered Pakistan a little. It was a far more intensely fought series, a reflection of how closely placed the two teams are. The defeat had far reaching consequences in England. For the core unit of England’s best team in decades, Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Trott, Anderson, Broad, Swann, all of whom had won the Ashes both home and away, winning in the subcontinent became the ultimate pinnacle of achievement. There was a hint of “never again�for this generation, who kne??w just how close they had come to defeat Pakistan on a number of occasions, and how they had squandered it. Test cricket can be brutal. A whitewash stared them in the face instead.

But the same brutal test cricket gives you an opportunity to move on, to pick yourself up, and to start afresh. England’s next assignment was in Sri Lanka and in a two match series, led by star batsman Kevin Pietersen’s brutal onslaught on Sri Lankan spinners, England drew a two match series amidst murmurs that they could have won the series 2-1 in a three match series.
In August 2012 when Cook took over as captain from Strauss, he had at his disposal two of the best spinners England have had in decades. With Swann and Panesar, Cook landed?? in India as part of his first assignment, with England not having won in India in 28 years. T?est cricket does not allow you a beginner’s level. It throws you at the deep end and challenges you to keep floating. Cook responded by example, amassing 547 runs including three centuries, as England completed a famous 2-1 win.

Yet, England landed in UAE with subdued expectations and trepidation. The reason for this being that since adopting UAE as their home venue in 2010, Pakistan are undefeated in eight series, having? won four, and drawn four. This and memories of 2012 white??wash meant England were content to be underdogs.

The first match saw Misbah win the toss and Pakistan amass a mammoth 523, on the back of Shoaib Malikâ€??™s care?er best 245, making his comeback in the test side on the back of a purple patch. Misbah’s Pakistan have grown to develop a very precise strategy and approach, as a response to the team’s shortcomings and weaknesses. The response is quiet, efficient, disciplined cricket which means Pakistan looks to block out the seamers/strike bowlers and play them with the utmost of caution and precision. Then look to up the ante when the spinners come along and the seamers tire out.

This method saw them win a test match against South Africa in 2013, and beat Aust??ralia 2-0 last year. But what makes this approach very interesting in the context of a Pakistan-England series is that it is uncannily reminiscent of an era in England �the era of Flower-Strauss from 2009 to 2013.

The Flower-Strauss years are arguably the best years of English cricket in the last few decades. This period saw them win three Ashes series including an overseas Ashes win, a 4-0 drubbing of India at home and a 2-1 win in India. A period that saw England?? become the number one test team in the world. It is the sort of attritional cricket that plays on the opposition’s patience, that looks to tire you into submission, that looks to minimise risks and wait for the opportunities to come before you pounce on the opponent.

It is just the fo??rmula Misbah’s Pakistan needed to deal with frequent batting collapses and a weak top order. It is also the brand of cricket that saw the emergence of England’s most prolific run scorer in this era �Alastair Cook. So it was little surprise that he responded in the exact same way �a double century and outdid Pakistan at their own game.

Facing a lead of? 75 runs after spending two days on the field, Pakistan panicked and collapsed in a way only Pakistan can, for 173, leaving England a paltry 99 to win.

Coming in to the series as underdogs, England were suddenly staring at being 1-0 up, but alas the light intervened. Memories of Karachi 2000 flashed in our minds, but England were denied a familiar script when the umpires deemed the light unsuitable for play to continue, leaving th??em tantalisingly short of a famous victory.

The second test match saw Misbah win the toss once again and elect to bat first. The same brand of cricket followed and Pakistan managed 378, the captain himself scoring a hundre?d. England were very much on their way at 206/3 on a pitch that on Day two and three was offering it’s best self to the batsmen. With no lateral movement or bite from the pitch, a Pakistani fast bowler picked up a slightly older ball, determined to defy nature, with raw pace, reverse swing and the sheer strength of will. Wahab Riaz stepped in to play the role pioneered by Imran, immortalised by Waqar , revitali?sed by Shoaib. The Wahab who toiled away on a similar, lifeless track in the first test match with little to show. The Wahab whose career at 30 years of age is only 15 test matches old, the Wahab who is known for two spells in two World Cup games, both of which saw Pakistan get knocked out in the end.

This is a nation that begrudgingly relinquishes its right to a functional government, its right to healthcare, education, infrastructure, electricity but feels it has a birth right to have fast bowlers blow away teams. Pace is pace yaar is what they say on the streets in Pakistan. And pace is what Wahab has plenty of to offer. Making his debut in the notorious 2010 tour of England, despite a five wicket haul on debut he was easily overshadowed thanks to Amir and Asif’s shenanigans, both on and off the field. He has played sporadically si??nce then, not having a consistent run either due to injury or selection mismanagement. Yet until a year ago, he wasn’t even a regular member of the side, his two World Cup?? performances proving to be inadequate in a career of over five years. It’s as if his entire career was a tantalising wait for that moment he dreamed of as a Pakistani fast bowler, the moment when the spoiled nation would hug him with joy and satisfaction and the sweet smell of victory. Until now. Until Day three.

In a devastating spell of nine overs in sweltering heat, Wahab pummelled England’s middle order, picking up Root, Stokes and Buttler before Pakistan’s new leg spin prodigy Yasir Shah joined the party.? England lost 7 wickets for 36 runs and lost the test match in one session. There was however one more twist in the tale before the formalities could be completed, when Rashid and Wood put up a stiff resistance on Day five and this time Pakistan were in a race against time to complete their victory. Fortunately for them, Rashid finally gave in just before the umpires might have called off play and Pakistan went 1-0 up.

The third test at Sharjah saw Misbah complete a hat-trick of toss wins and bat first once again. But Pakistan were denied much of an advantage when veteran James Anderson produced a stunning display of skill, guile and intelligence and collaborated with Broad to skittle out Pakistan for a meagre 234 and helping England to a decent 72 run lead while dominating the fi??rst two days completely. They had been threatening to do that the entire series. Faced with non-conducive pitches and arduous weather conditions, England’s seamers combined to pick up 31 wickets at 24.58 in comparison to English spinners managing 20 at 59.85. They troubled Pakistan with the new ball, and then, to demonstrate their versatility and adaptability, they produced beguiling spells of reverse swing bowling to torment Pakistan at various points throughout the series. In fact, such was Anderson’s proficiency with the old ball on Day three, centurion Hafeez remarked that he had never seen such an excellent display of reverse swing bowling since Wasim and Waqar.

Hafeez himself suffered a few close calls and tough chances to notch up a 151, in a scintillating display of elegance and poise when the rest ??of the team perished around him. This is the sort of innings he had promised to deliver on various occasions before letting his team down. With Misbah and Younis back in the hut, this was the moment Pakistan needed it from him, and this was the moment he responded.

The target of 284 with ?a day and a half to go was always going to? be daunting against the spin twins of Yasir and Babar, who respectively average 17 and 20 in the fourth innings of a match. England were bundled out for 156 with only Alastair Cook putting up any resistance.

The 2-0 scoreline at the end of a riveting test series says nothing of how the pendulum kept swinging for most part of the series session by session. Just like any great sporting encounter, this series provided us with its fair share of ‘what ifs�when England were denied by bad light in the first tes??t match. Placing the decision on light firmly in the hands o??f the umpires was perhaps the best decision by the ICC especially in the context of an England-Pakistan series, where there is always an off field story to overshadow the cricket. Not this time.

In the historical context of controversy ridden England-Pakistan encounters, where headlines on the Daily Mail are often louder than the cricket on the grou??nds, it is no surprise that this series, played under the leadership of Alastair Cook and Misbah ul Haq will rank amongst the most controversy free ones. Here are two of the most unassuming and dedicated cricketers their nations have produced, keen to speak only in the language of cricket. In fact so focused on performances and excellence are these two teams now under their respective leaders that they unabashedly borrowed from each other, demonstrating indirectly their mutual admiration of each other. James Anderson and Mark Wood tormented batsmen with reverse swing much the same way Wasim and Waqar did at their peak, and Misbah, Younis and Shafiq produced displays of attritional batting reminiscent of Cook, Thorpe, Gooch etc.

In doing so, Misbah and Cook might have written a new chapter in the story. A complex and fascinating rivalry that has often been reduced to a simplistic ‘clash of cultures�narrative, this new chapter that defies all previous ones, might just be the beginning of a new, yet equally fas?cinating rivalry.

I’ve given some thought to how best to do this – the obvious answer is to look at the total impact of the team in a given match, but then I also thought about looking at the teams whose players had the highest recent impact performances going into the match (the MA5 number, or moving average over five Tests). That surely would show the strongest sides?

Yet another way is to find the teams which had most players over a given MA5 numbe??r, say greater than 20%.

Looking at the issue using both the first and second methods, i.e. finding the teams with the highest match totals or total MA5 numbers for all players, I found that this tends to identify teams who participated in particularly close matches and series, such as the West Indies teams who tied with Australia in 1960-61 and which matched up against Pakistan in the winter of 1976-77, also England 2005. It was interesting that using that method uncovered two series in which both teams ranked highly – England and Pakistan in 2005/06 and England-Australia from 1961, but those series included matches which ebbed and flowed so that the win probability remained in flux.

Turning to those teams which included several high-impact players, it turns out there have been 12 throughout Test history to include five players who enjoyed an MA5 value of higher than 20% going into a particular match. Actually t??here are effectively nine, as two teams were basically the same line-up a co??uple of matches later.

The twelve teams, and the play??ers with more than 20% average impact, are listed chronolo?gically as follows:-

Much of the above can be explained by the way the moving averages are calculated i.e. on a five-Test moving average basis, such that the Australians of 1961 have some residual value from the great series against West Indies the previous winter, and England 2005/06 have a similar residual value from the Ashes. The same is partly tr??ue of West Indies 1976/77, following their great performances in the summer of 1976 in England.

As the system was really designed to determine high-impact individuals over the course of a career,?? it would seem that the application of it to teams for a match or series is not appropriate, especially considering it unearths no sides prior to 1961.

The above analysis did have me doubting the validity of the system, at least as applied to teams. I was expecting to see for example the 1980s West Indies teams show up as being high??-impact, so I decided to do a more in-depth analysis of that all-conquering side. It was in performing th??at analysis that I discovered the aspect of this system which gave me the title of this feature.

First I looked at every match and series the West Indies was involved in during the decade of the 1980s. I examined the individual players’ MA5 values first and noted all of the West Indies team members who were rated at over 20% for each match.

The results were interesting, to say the least. Although the teams started out with sometimes three but usually at least two players rated above 20%, there was a period from 1984 in England through 1987 in Pakistan when not one single individual West Indian Test player ranked higher than 20%. Yet during that period, ??they won 18 Tests and lost only one. How come?

Surely that is an indictment of the impact system as a ?measure of teams (and possibly also players) when considering that none of the 1980s West Indian Test teams rated particularly highly using this system?

Actually, no.

The key is, we must look at the total team i??mpact when compared to that of the opposition. We can compare the total team impact rating to that of their opposition going into each Test throughout the decade, calling any ratings which are close enough as a draw.

Here’s what we get.

The aggregate results of the nineteen Test se?ries involving the West Indies throughout the decade of the 1980s predicted by the impact syst??em is

In comparison, the actual aggregate results of the nineteen Test series involvin?g the West Indies throughout the decad?e of the 1980s is

If we consider a draw as half a win each, the win percentage is exactly the same, 0.??7915.

So the system is actually excellent at rating teams, it’s just that all ratings are relative.

Also we can see that it’s probably more important from a team perspective to have eleven players who contribute at a reasonably high level rather than a few dominant individuals.

We can perform the same exercise for the 2000s Australians. Following the defeat in that classic series in India during 2000/01, Australia did not lose another series unt??il the 2005 Ashes, during which time their actual aggregate results were

The predicted aggregate resul??ts of those?? sixteen Test series is

The above is pretty convincing, as regards the correlation of team impact totals to predicted team performance. But if you’re still not convinced…

The 1950s England side is certainly one of the most successful over a significant period of time – England were unbeaten for 14 consecutive Test series, most of which were comprised of five Tests. Here are the results of the same exercise for those teams.

Actual results

Predicted results

Spooky, eh?

The advantage of this method of comparison over a comparison based on the ICC rankings is that the team impact rating is an aggregate of the impact of each of the individual players in the team, whereas the ICC rankings are based on the performance of the team regardless of who was playing and don’t vary as much from match-to-match.

If you used the ICC rankings to predict r??esults it would almost always predict a whitewash for one team or the other.

Anyway, if you’ll excuse me I’m off to place some bets.