Misbah-ul-Haq announces retirement, West Indies series to be last assignment

Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq has called it quits from international cricket and has announced that the Test series against West Indies will be his final assignment in Pakistan colours. Taking to their twitter handle, Geo News broke this news. The veteran cricketer aged 42 has been a pivotal member of the Pakistan side over the years and has gone on to take Pakistan cricket to great heights in the recent past.

It was under Misbah’s captaincy that Pakistan climbed to the top of the ICC Test Championship ladder for the very first time in their lifetime but couldn’t sustain their position for long. Under his able leadership, Pakistan came out from the shocking spot-fixing debacle in 2010 and started gelling as a unit. Very recently he led Pakistan to a tremendous Test win at Lord’s later levelled the 4 match Test series in England 2-1.

There were speculations that Misbah was considering retirement after the lacklustre series in Australia but nothing was announced officially. He was woefully out of form as the Australian fast bowlers were all over the experienced lad. He was struggling to cope with the swinging deliveries and gave easy catches to the slip cordon. Former cricketers and critics started questioning his credentials and demanded his retirement.

Speaking at the press conference Misbah revealed about his retirement from international cricket after the 3 match Test series. “I am announcing my retirement from international cricket,” said Misbah. “The upcoming series against West Indies will be my last,” he was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune.

“I’ve seen many ups and downs during my career. I was dropped from the team played poorly as well at times. But then I had some great moments too where we became the number one Test team in the world. So overall, I am satisfied with my performance.”

He further added that despite retiring from international cricket he will continue to play in domestic cricket and his cricketing career isn’t over yet. “I will continue to play cricket at the domestic level,” he added. “Regarding when I will leave domestic cricket, I will decide it later,” he concluded.