I thank almighty that I played under Misbah: Umar Akmal

Pakistan’s limited-over specialist, Umar Akmal, showered praises on Misbah Ul Haq’s career conceding that he was lucky to play under his captaincy. Misbah recently announced that he will retire after the Test tour of the Caribbean in May ending long-standing speculations on his playing future.

On being asked about his thoughts on Misbah’s career, under whom Akmal has played a lot, Akmal said, “Aaahhhh Subse pehle tu main Allah ka shukar ada karta hon” Instead he wated to say “I thank the almighty first for giving me an opportunity of playing under Misbah”.

Reporter "What are your thoughts on Misbah announcing his retirement?"
Umar Akmal "First of all I thank the Almighty for this"#Cricket

— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) April 6, 2017

Akmal, 26, has 116 ODI caps to his name and has scored 3044 runs at this level. Akmal’s rise coincided with Misbah’s appointment as the captain of Pakistan. 67 out of Akmal’s 116 ODI games were played under Misbah as the captain. He did reasonably well in those games scoring 1689 runs at an average of over 35. It is quite obvious that Akmal enjoyed playing under Misbah.

Misbah, though, quit playing ODI cricket after Pakistan’s quarter-final loss to Australia in the ICC World Cup 2015. He continued to lead the Test side – admirably – as he led Pakistan to series to away series win in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and ‘home’ series win against Australia, England and the West Indies.

Due to this unprecedented performance as a Test side, Pakistan became the No. 1 ranked side in the format for a brief while last year. Misbah escalated to become the most successful captain of Pakistan eclipsing legends Imran Khan and Javed Miandad. He currently has 24 Test wins out of 53 games, a staggering 10 more wins than the previous joint record holders Imran and Miandad.

Misbah, 42, has finally decided to hang his boots. Though, he doesn’t boast of a record like his contemporaries; he will go down in Pakistan’s history as the most influential cricketer the country has ever produced.

The third and final Test against West Indies scheduled to start on May 10 will be Misbah’s final game as a Pakistani cricketer.

Here is the video:

Lol Umar akmal on #Misbah Retirement

Aaahhhh Subse pehle tu main Allah ka shukar ada karta hon pic.twitter.com/A4FLhSsuh6

— Imran Siddique (@SportsJournoo) April 6, 2017