Despite being a heavyweight run scorer in the domestic scene in Pakistan, Misbah-ul-Haq simply couldn’t break into a team boasting a middle order of Inzamam, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.

A brief, and disppointing flirtation with the Pakistan team in a number of low level tournaments in 2002 resulting in him being dropped. When another opportunity arose against Australia, he disappointed again in the Test series, failing to live up to his promise and that sealed his fate – it should have been the end of his international career.

But Misbah is a fighter. He returned to domestic cricket, enjoying a prolific 2006-7 and this coincided with Pakistan’s humiliation in the 2007 World Cup, Inzamam’s retirement from cricket and a successful stint in English Club Cricket.

At the age of 33, Misbah was back – he was awarded a PCB Contract, and in another stroke of fortune, he was drafted in to replace Mohammad Yousuf for the 2007 World T20, held in South Africa.

He was one of the sensations of tournament – a super-cool individual, who virtually single-handedly guided Pakistan to the final with some truly amazing innings.

Whilst the final will be remembered for ‘that shot’ at the end of the game, Misbah was 1 shot away from taking Pakistan to World T20 glory.

He appears unfazed and unflappable out in the middle – reminiscent of the man he has replaced in the squad, and this temperament has seen him establish himself as one of Pakistan’s premier batsman.

The renaissance of Misbah-ul-Haq has been extraordinary – He is ‘Mr Dependable!, and is making the best use of his new found opportunity.

After 2 scintillating test centuries against India in 2007, he was rewarded with the Pakistani Vice-Captaincy.

However the year 2009 was a tough one for Misbah and he had a tough time in all versions of the game. In 13 matches, he averaged 33 at a slow strike rate of 65 and in Tests his average was a poor 28. With youngsters such as Fawad Alam and Umar Akmal starting to deliver, Misbah’s career again seemed to hit a stall.

An educated man, he is widely respected amongst his peers for calming influence within a team known for its instability. It is this calming influence that led to Misbah receiving the captaincy in all three formats in 2010 and 2011. The results have been positive as Misbah continued to guide the teams towards greater heights. Along with his own performances reaching new levels of consistency, the team also continued to gel and perform well.

One of the defining moments of his career will undoubtedly be the 2012 test series against the then World No.1 side England. Misbah captained Pakistan to an astounding 3-0 whitewash, producing a couple of crucial innings a long the way. He was removed from the T20 captaincy following some poor results, but remained in charge of ODIs and Tests.

Misbah continued with his good form as captain going into the series against in India in 2012/13. He was widely hailed by fans for the historic 2-1 series win over the arch-rivals.

The series against South Africa ended up being a disappointing one for the captain as Pakistan was whitewashed in the Test series and lost the ODI series 3-2. His own performance as a batsman during the One-Day series was assuring.

Misbah led Pakistan to the Champion’s Trophy, unfortunately the team didn’t fare well, losing all 3 matches mainly due to the team’s poor performances with the bat. Misbah was the one batsmen who stood up and took charge with his teammates falling around, it was Misbah who stood tall and carried Pakistan forward. In the first group match against the West Indies, Misbah was left stranded on career best 98, an agonizing 2 runs short of a maiden ODI ton. Misbah would follow up his career best 98 with scores of 55 and 22 against SA and India, both in losing causes. Misbah would later be named as the captain in the ICC Champions trophy 2013 XI, despite his team’s short stay in the tournament.

Misbah did taste success as captain in the latter half of 2013 finishing with series victories abroad against the WI, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and South Africa in ODI’s. The 2-1 series victory against SA in South Africa was historic, as it was the first time Pakistan had won an ODI bilateral series in South Africa and became the first captain to win a bilateral ODI series in South Africa.

Misbah ended the year as the highest run scorer with 1,373 runs at an average of 54.92. Misbah scored 15 fifties in 2013 which is a record for most 50’s scored in a year. His feats were acknowledged with a nomination for the ICC ODI Player of the Year, he would in the end miss out to Kumar Sangakkara.

Misbah had a good start to 2014 and played a crucial and quick 68* on the final day of the 3rd Test at Sharjah to win Pakistan a thrilling match and draw the series against Sri Lanka. However Pakistan had a poor first half of 2014 as the team lost the following ODI series against Sri Lanka. Despite beating India in the Asia Cup, Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in the final of the tournament as Misbah's form remained indifferent. It was a similar story in the tour to Sri Lanka where Pakistan lost both the Test and ODI series with Misbah unable to convert any of his regular starts into a big score. This was followed by a 3-0 loss in the ODI series to Australia in the UAE where Misbah missed the third match of the series amid uncertainty over his captaincy and position in the side.

However Misbah returned to form in style in the two match Test series against Australia where he made a fifty and 2 centuries in the three innings he batted. The century in the 2nd innings of the second Test was especially a highlight with Misbah scoring the fastest century in the history of Test cricket in contrast to his usual style. This was followed by the Test and ODI series against New Zealand where Misbah showed good form despite Pakistan being outclassed in the ODI series after a drawn test series.

Pakistan headed into the World Cup in disarray with several injuries and suspensions and in the initial matches Misbah was the sole batsman who showed any form as Pakistan crashed to defeats against India and West Indies. However Misbah led Pakistan to the quarter final against Australia and retired from ODIs at end of the match after Pakistan's elimination.

Misbah is still Pakistan's captain at test level and has led the team to a 1-0  away series win over Bangladesh.

At 41, Misbah is at the end of his career and will be hoping to lead Pakistan to a few series wins before his eventual retirement.

[Last updated: June 21, 2015]