Misbah-ul-Haq hinted before the current series with England that it could be his last in Test cricket, with the Pakistan captain revealing his preference to leave the stage on a high rather than be hooked unceremoniously from the wings.
We must therefore savour his unbeaten 102 on the first day in Dubai that has put his side seemingly in charge of the second Test, for it could well be his last century in international cricket. But then when a batsman is 41 years and 147 days old, that tends to be the default position anyway.
Misbah was late in bringing up three figures here, swatting two huge sixes off Moeen Ali in the final over of the day before a reverse sweep around the corner for two made the milestone his. This is a cricketer who seemingly defies time, of course, with the bulk of his career in the colours of his country coming after most have long since called it a day. His ascension to the role of captain came in 2010, aged 36; an uncharacteristically shrewd piece of work by the Pakistan Cricket Board in reaction to the Lord’s spot-fixing scandal during the tainted tour of England that year when his predecessor, Salman Butt, was suspended in disgrace.
Having been out of the side at the time, and with a batting average in the low 30s, it felt like a stop-gap appointment. But as a leader, despite the team being permanently on the road, he has brought calm to their set-up and gone some way to reinstalling trust in their cricket.
Few believed his best years as a cricketer could be ahead of him, however, let alone that a slow-scoring player dubbed “Tuk-tuk” could go on to equal Viv Richards’ fastest Test hundred, as he did when he took Australia to the cleaners 12 months ago in just 56 balls.
Since that recall five years ago, and despite the burden of captaincy, Misbah has averaged 57 with the bat, striking seven of his nine Test hundreds. With this latest one, peeled off in consummate fashion, he became the oldest Test centurion since Australia’s Bob Simpson made exactly 100 against in India in 1978, aged 41 years and 359 days.
Having adjusted his batting to the modern game – no batsman in their fifth decade has struck more than his 25 sixes in Test cricket – it is little wonder his coach, Waqar Younis, hopes Misbah’s steady hand remains on the tiller for some time to come.
“Misbah said before the series that you ‘never know, it might be the last one so you have to make the most of it,’” explained the former fast bowler, speaking after the close of play. “We don’t really know what he wants to do but the way he is batting, Pakistan needs him.
“I don’t think age is a barrier: if you are fit and you can manage the way modern cricket is played, why not? When you look around the world, you don’t see many cricketers of this age still around.”
Some 62 of Misbah’s 102 runs came from just 13 deliveries, with five sixes hit off Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid. The right-hander refused to let England’s spin pairing settle, taking them for 76 from 72 balls in contrast to the watchful way he dealt with the seamers.
Mark Wood was the pick of those on day one for England, giving Misbah and his fellow old-stager Younis Khan the hurry-up before being finally rewarded with the latter’s wicket when he had him taken down the leg side for 56 after tea.
“I had a good battle with Misbah today,” said Wood. “I tried to be aggressive to him but he dealt with it really well and came out with a hundred. I guess that’s 1-0 to him and I’ll have to try again tomorrow.
“As a bowler I appreciate them and have respect that they are great players. You have to try different things to try and get them out. My role was to be aggressive but they showed their class and dealt with the situation well.”
