KARACHI, 28 September 2007 — Misbah ul-Haq, one of Pakistan’s heroes of the World Cup Twenty20, is all set to make a return to the country’s Test lineup for next month’s home series against South Africa.
The Mianwali-born batsman seems almost certain to get the selectors’ nod when they name a 15-man Pakistan squad for the two-match Test series against the Proteas starting from Oct. 1 in Karachi.
Arab News gathered from reliable sources that Misbah will replace former Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq in the Test squad and will also make the cut for the five-match ODI series.
Inzamam fell out of the favor with the Pakistan Cricket Board officials after the World Cup debacle this March and any hopes he had of resuming his Test career fizzled out after the aging batsman joined the rebel Indian Cricket League earlier this summer.
Misbah played five Tests for Pakistan from 2001 to 2003 and was unable to impress much in the long version of the game. He has 120 Test runs at a poor average of 13.33. His last Test outing was against Bangladesh at Karachi in the summer of 2003.
He was selected in Pakistan’s Twenty20 squad ahead of batting maestro Mohammad Yousuf -- a decision that attracted a lot of criticism from various quarters.
But Misbah silenced his critics with an excellent run of form in the inaugural World Twenty20 event, hitting a whirlwind 53 against India and a match-winning 66 against Australia.
“Misbah is no doubt one of our success stories in the World Twenty20 tournament,” chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed told Arab News.
He agreed that Pakistan may have some vacant spots in the middle-order but was non-committal when asked whether Misbah will make the cut for the Test squad.
“We will wait and see what happens in (Pakistan’s) semifinal and beyond before deciding the Test squad,” he said. “We have to take an input from the captain and coach before announcing the squad.”
