Misbah: I’ll time my retirement perfectly

News

Cricket365
November 10, 2014

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq says he's given his retirement a lot of thought and knows when he wants to hang up his boots, but will do so only after the World Cup in February.

The skipper recorded the joint-fastest Test century recently, against Australia, and is enjoying a revival in form along with Younis Khan. Any thoughts of retirement have been pushed back, he says.

Misbah told Gulf News: "Yes, definitely I have my plans on how to retire and how to time it. However, publicly I have never announced it before but obviously I have plans.

"I will do it at the right time but at this moment I don't want to switch my focus towards anything other than the build-up to the World Cup. It is all about bettering mine and the team's performance."

He added that the support in Pakistan after their series win had been massive, and said that he remembered his mother's advice when getting down-hearted: "The response was tremendous from friends, family and all well-wishers.

"My mother was particularly thrilled as she has always kept faith in me and the team. She always told me: whenever you have good times or tough times, always stay united and be behind the team.

"That gave me strength and belief that my team can come back against all odds and win."

He then said that the return of batsmen Younis Khan and Azhar Ali, having not played in the ODIs, was a big boost to the Test side, and motivated all those around them.

He said: "See, there are a few individuals who are responsible for removing the negativity from the team.

"There were a few changes in the team after the ODIs and the players who came in like Azhar Ali and Younis Khan managed to lift the team spirit with their batting.

"They brought that positivity with that partnership when we lost two quick wickets in the first Test. Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar too made a huge difference. Automatically, everyone suddenly wanted to be a part of those performances."