The 2015 World Cup will be the end of the road for some of Pakistan cricket’s stars.
Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq have already announced their intentions of walking away from the 50-over game and they are likely to be joined by another stalwart, Younis Khan.
While Afridi’s announcement went unnoticed to an extent, it was different case with captain Misbah.
During a practice session in Lahore on Tuesday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman, Shaharyar Khan, said: “Misbah is a brilliant star and I respect him a lot.”
“I am glad that he will continue playing Tests for Pakistan after World Cup,” the PCB chief said while adding that Misbah was a sincere and loyal servant to Pakistan cricket.
“Misbah came to me a week ago and told me about his plans,” Khan said while denying rumours of conspiracy to force Misbah into retirement.
Khan was hopeful of Misbah leading the team into the World Cup with his brilliant leadership skills. “[God willing] Pakistan will win the Cup,” he said.
Misbah appeared quite confident of the national team’s prospects as well despite the loss of key spinners Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez over illegal actions.
“We have all seen the India Tests and it gives us a good picture for how the pitches would be in Australia.”
“There is extra pace and bounce on Australian pitches but it is the trait of good professional cricketers to manage on different conditions.Most of the players are already aware of the conditions in Australia and New Zealand.”
Looking back at his career, Misbah gave all the credit of his success to his teammates.
“The reason behind my success is my team. They performed brilliantly throughout.”
Echoing Misbah’s words, Shahryar Khan said the unity that this team possessed was “unmatched”.
“If you remain united and play with passion then no matter how difficult the conditions are, you will win,” Khan said.