Know the Pakistan cricket captains, from westernized to fundamentalist

New Delhi: Cricket is perhaps the only sport where a captain not only has to have good, consistent cricketing abilities but should also have a penchant for the kind of leadership found in a military general or in a political leader.Most good cricket captains have also been inspirational and innovative thinkers. In fact, sometimes this quality has taken precedence over cricketing ability.Ever since Pakistan made its debut as an international Test playing nation in 1952, it has had 30 Test captains!Out of these only eight's captaincies have survived for five years or more, and that too in stints.A Pakistani cricket captain has to not only tackle the power games that are played in the country's cricketing board, but he also has to face constant player rebellions, groupings and power tussles that Pakistan cricket teams are infamous for.Abdul Hafeez KardarThe Oxford-educated Kardar was exactly what Pakistan's first ever Test side needed.Given the task to lead an almost entirely inexperienced bunch of talented young cricketers of a country whose first cricket board could not even fully pay for the players' cricket kit and equipment, Kardar soon turned the team into a side that every Test playing nation of the world came to admire.In Kardar's six-year-reign as skipper (1952-58), Pakistan managed to win a Test against every Test side of the world, except, of course, South Africa, that at the time was under an apartheid regime and was boycotted by India, Pakistan and the West Indies.Under Kardar, Pakistan played 23 Tests; it won 6 and lost 6 while drawing the rest - an impressive record for an underpaid team of young novices.Despite his autocratic demeanour and average cricketing skills, Kardar was deeply respected by his teammates and was treated as a father figure by most of the team's young players.When Kardar retired from the game (at the age of 34) in 1958, the then President of the country, Iskander Mirza, requested him to stay on as captain. Kardar politely declined.Since Kardar had led the young and cash-strapped team to victories against some of the top sides of the world, his almost dictatorial hold over the team and his overwhelming influence in selection matters were largely tolerated by the board.Captaincy Record (1952-58):Tests: 6 won, 6 lost, 11 drawnMushtaq MohammedKardar was made the chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board in 1972 and it was he who appointed the captain who would finally be able to beat his (Kardar's) long-standing record of 6 victories. That man was Mushtaq Mohammed.Unlike Kardar, Mushtaq wasn't an Oxford graduate. In fact, he never attended any college. He was still in school and just 16 when he was selected to represent the Pakistan side in 1959.Coming from Karachi's famous cricketing family, the Mohammed brothers, Mushtaq had established himself as a solid middle-order batsman and a useful leg-break bowler in the team. He was 33 when he was made the captain in 1976.There was one thing common between Kardar and Mushtaq, though. The latter was equally stubborn. It was this aspect of Mushtaq's personality that almost cost him his captaincy during his very first Test series as captain.No Pakistani captain before Mushtaq had ever demanded a pay raise for his players. But Mushtaq did exactly that during Pakistan's home series against New Zealand in 1976.With a huge win in the bag and support of the team's top players, Mushtaq again asked for a pay raise for the team just before Pakistan's long tour of Australia and the West Indies. Both were the top two sides in the world at the time.The board again refused and finally dropped Mushtaq as captain. But just before Intikhab Alam was set to return as captain, the government stepped in and agreed to meet Mushtaq's demands.Mushtaq was reinstated as captain and led Pakistan to a gruelling 5-month tour of Australia and the West Indies that included eight Tests.Mushtaq lost the captaincy when he joined five other Pakistani players to play for Australian media tycoon, Kerry Packer's renegade World Series Cricket (WSC), in Australia. The event destroyed a number of teams.It was under Mushtaq's captaincy that Imran transformed into becoming a formidable fast bowler.He was asked to return as captain in 1980 when Asif Iqbal retired after losing to India 2-0. Mushtaq declined and instead suggested 23-year-old Javed Miandad for the job.Captaincy Record (1976-77/1978-79):Tests: 8 won, 4 lost, 7 drawn.ODIs: 2 won, 2 lost.Javed MiandadThere is unanimous agreement across the board about Miandad being perhaps the greatest batsman ever produced by Pakistan. But there is, however, no such agreement on him as a captain.When Mushtaq Mohammad suggested his name to the cricket board in 1980, Miandad was just 23-years-old.Miandad won his first series 1-0 (against the visiting Australians), but went down 1-0 against the West Indies and then 2-1 against Australia in Australia.Miandad exhibited his youth and inexperience by accusing the senior players for the team's defeat in Australia. This did not go down well with the team and in early 1982, ten players, led by Majid Khan, refused to play under him. They demanded his removal.Miandad refused to step down and was supported by Nur Khan. He led a brand new team against the visiting Sri Lankan side and won the first Test match easily.When Pakistan narrowly escaped defeat against the inexperienced Lankans in the second Test, Miandad offered his resignation to Nur Khan.Nur Khan encouraged Miandad to continue and soon Imran Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Sarfraz Nawaz and Wasim Bari too broke away from the rebellion.It is believed that Miandad had asked the local employers of the rebelling players (banks and PIA), to terminate their playing and employment contracts. The only players who still refused to play under Javed were Majid and Sikander Bhakht.Nevertheless, Miandad stepped down after the Lankan series (that Pakistan won 2-0) and agreed to play under any captain except Majid or Zaheer. Imran Khan was appointed as the new captain.Miandad returned as captain in 1985 when he replaced Zaheer Abbas. Javed lost a series against New Zealand before making way for Imran's return in 1986. Miandad became the vice captain.Captaincy rotated between Imran and Miandad across the late 1980s. And even when Miandad led Pakistan to a 2-1 series victory against England in 1992 (after Imran's retirement), he faced yet another rebellion when the team performed miserably in an ODI tournament in Australia in 1993-94.This time the rebellion was led by the celebrated fast-bowling pair of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.This was Miandad's last stint as captain.neutralize India's spin bowling attack. Pakistan won the game and the series.Miandad retired from cricket in 1996.Captaincy Record (1980-82/1985-86/1988/1992-3):Tests: 14 won, 6 lost, 14 drawn.ODIs: 26 won, 33 lost, 1 tied, 2 no result.Imran KhanKnown more as a flamboyant fast-bowler/bowling all-rounder and ‘playboy,' nobody quite expected him to ever lead the national cricket team. Not even Imran himself.When Javed Miandad was ousted by a players' rebellion, he was expected to be replaced by either Zaheer Abbas or Majid Khan.But since Majid and Zaheer were the central figures in the rebellion against him, Miandad (after resigning from the captaincy), made it clear to the cricket board that he was not willing to play under either of the two aspirants.The board came up with a compromise candidate in the shape of Imran Khan. Khan was reluctant. His close friends warned him that captaincy would destroy his career and form.Nevertheless, after some thought, Khan accepted. Quite the opposite happened to his career and form. Not only did he win 7 of the first 12 Tests that he captained, his form as all-rounder also reached a peak.When he returned to the team in 1985 after nursing fracture, Miandad was once again the captain but he voluntarily handed over the captaincy to Khan.Khan's second stint as skipper was equally successful but at the same time a lot more controversial.After reestablishing himself in the team as its premier all-rounder and captain, Khan began to exercise an almost dictatorial hold over the team and regularly clashed with the selectors and members of the board.He claimed that since it was the captain's head that lands on the chopping block when the team does not do well, the captain should have the most say in selecting the teamFor example, he fought hard with the board to get in players like Abdul Qadir (who would go on to become a world-class spinner). He also dotingly nurtured fast men like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Aaqib Javed who went on to lead a fast-bowling revolution in Pakistan in the 1990s.it was under Imran that the team notched its first ever Test series wins against England (in England) and against India (in India) – both in 1987.He would also often exhibit his anger on the field at players he thought weren't giving their all, and the spectacle of Khan admonishing players with some choice Urdu and English abuses became a common sight.Khan was famous for being a ‘party animal' who encouraged his team to live it up, especially when it came to women.Qasim Omar, a dashing middle-order batsman, after he was admonished by Imran in the dressing room for getting out playing a rash stroke in Australia, returned to Pakistan and accused Khan and his team of being ‘compulsive hashish smokers' and for ‘regularly bringing women into their hotel rooms.'Khan finally wrapped up his career by leading Pakistan to win the 1992 World Cup.Imran retired immediately after the World Cup, aged 41. After getting married, he entered politics as a ‘born-again Muslim.'Captaincy Record (1982-84/1986-88/1989-92):Tests: 14 won, 8 lost, 26 drawn.ODIs: 75 won, 59 lost, 1 tied, 4 no result.Wasim AkramAce fast bowler, Wasim Akram, made his debut in Test cricket at the age of 18 in 1985. He had been plucked by Javed Miandad to tour New Zealand, but it would be Imran Khan who would go on to nurture and train him into becoming one of the game's finest left-arm fast bowlers.With Waqar Younis and Aaqib Javed, Akram unleashed a fast bowling revolution in Pakistan that also saw the emergence of genuine pace men like Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Zahid and Mohammad Sami.Akram's first stint as captain ended in a disaster. After squaring a closely fought ODI series in the West Indies, Akram and at least three other Pakistani players were arrested from a beach in the Granada Island, for publically smoking marijuana.The incident almost turned into a serious diplomatic row between the Pakistan and Granada governments till the players were finally released for the Test series which Pakistan promptly lost 2-0.In spite of the incident, Akram was retained as captain. However, he soon faced a full-blown rebellion from ten players led by Waqar Younis and spinner Mushtaq Ahmed after the 1994 series against Zimbabwe.Akram was ousted and replaced by Salim Malik.After a few players turned whistle blowers and accused Malik of indulging in match-fixing, Malik was removed by the board and replaced with Ramiz Raja.Raja soon gave way to Akram's return as skipper in 1996.His second stint as captain saw him leading a formidable team of batsmen, all-rounders and fast bowlers, and it was under Akram that Pakistan became one of the most powerful cricket teams of the 1990s.Though Akram continued to perform well as a player and capably led the team, his dream of winning the World Cup never came true. He was captain during the 1996 as well as the 1999 World Cup events.In 1996, after leading the team into the quarter-final of that year's World Cup, Akram suddenly dropped himself from the squad due to a muscle injury. The match was against arch-rivals India in India.After Pakistan lost the game and was ousted from the tournament, Akram's decision was severely criticized by the media and fans alike, and some even went to the extent of accusing him of throwing away the game for money.Akram's home in Lahore was also attacked by angry protesters.Shaken by the reception, Akram decided to take a short respite from the game. His absence saw Ramiz return ever-so-briefly as captain, but by late 1997, Akram had been reinstalled as skipper by the board.But Akram's third stint was extremely brief (but in which he led Pakistan to its first ever white-wash against the West Indies in a 3-Test series in Pakistan.He soon decided to step down after accusations of match-fixing and nepotism continued to chase him. He was first replaced by Saeed Anwar and then by Aamir Sohail, both of whom did not last long.In 1998-99, Akram was back for his fourth stint as skipper. He proved his growing maturity as a player and captain after leading Pakistan in a tense series against India (in India) when political hostilities between the two countries had reached a new peak.Facing hostile crowds, threats from extremist Hindu groups, and a hawkish Indian media, Akram's team won two of the three Tests that were played on the edgy tour.In 2000, Akram relinquished the captaincy and in 2003 retired from the game.Captaincy Record (1993-94/1996; 1997-98/1998-2000):Tests: 12 won, 8 lost, 5 drawn.ODIs: 66 won, 41 lost, 2 tied.Inzamam-ul-HaqA batting talent, Inzamam is rightly placed alongside three of the greatest batsmen produced by Pakistan: Hanif Mohammed, Zaheer Abbas and Javed Miandad. But same cannot be said about him as a captain.In fact, he was an unlikely candidate in this capacity, having an extremely laid-back personality and not much experience as a captain even across his local first-class career.But certain events conspired to not only make him a more responsible and serious person, but also prompt the cricket board to actually hand over this once lazy, relaxed but highly talented batsman, the captaincy.One of these events was the way he lost all form during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa and produced a series of low scores, as the Pakistan team crashed out of the tournament.The powerhouse that the Pakistan team had become in the 1990s had clearly begun to crash, and by the time the team exited from the 2003 World Cup, it at once lost a number of players that had helped it become this powerhouse: Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Moin Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohail, etc.Inzamam's position in the team also became doubtful and he, along with other remnants of that era, Rashid Latif and Shoaib Akhtar, seemed to be on their way out.Though the selectors brought in a number of new players into the side, they also decided to stick with Rashid Latif who was made the captain and Inzamam. Later, Akhtar too was recalled.Latif's captaincy did not last long and the selectors decided that an experienced player like Inzamam should be handed over the captaincy because much of the new team was packed with youngsters.Inzamam, who had made his Test debut under Imran Khan in 1990, had experienced the dizzying highs and sudden lows of the Pakistan cricket team across the 1990s and early 2000s. He had witnessed the emergence of outstanding talents (of which he was one), and the team pulling off some unbelievable victories in the 1990s.At the same time he had also seen vicious power struggles between players over the issue of captaincy, angry player rebellions, accusations of match-fixing, drug taking, womanising and infighting.He knew well the erratic, volatile and perplexingly flamboyant culture of Pakistan cricket when he was handed the captaincy to lead a team that was now mostly made-up of young players.Inzamam did not have an urbane and aristocratic background that great captains like Kardar or Imran had; nor did he possess the street-smarts and sharpness of captains like Javed and Mushtaq Mohammed.Also, though he was a contemporary of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, unlike them he did not readjust his petty-bourgeoisie disposition and turn himself into a more cosmopolitan entity.He held on to his small-town moorings even though he was a willing participant in many of the team's raunchy off-field activities in the 1990s.Instead of adjusting his demeanor to suit the ways of this culture, Inzamam decided to change the culture itself.Cleverly, he decided to use religion as a tool, in spite of the fact that till he joined the large Islamic evangelist outfit, the Tableeghi Jamat (TJ), in early 2003, Inzamam had not been a very religious man.But he became one in 2003, persuaded by his former colleagues, Saeed Anwar, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed, who had joined the outfit in 2001-2002.The TJ as a movement, though apolitical, is highly exhibitionistic and ritualistic. It were these two aspects of the movement that Inzamam used as a way to instill discipline in the team and to also keep at bay dissent from the players.Regular prayers and gatherings were organized and the players lectured by TJ men on the virtues of faith.The young lot soon fell in line believing that failing to do so may isolate them in the squad or even cost them their place in the team.Players were also encouraged to openly display their religiosity and many of them hailed the team's new-found culture. But it wasn't only the players that did that.After the team under Inzamam began to settle down and produce impressive results, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the team's South African coach, late Bob Woolmer, also began to praise Inzamam's tactics.They agreed that these tactics had not only changed the team's culture for good, it had stabilised Pakistan cricket (after the 2003 World Cup debacle) and made the players more hard-working and disciplined.Inzamam's captaincy reached its peak when his team toppled the Ashes-winning English side 2-0 in 2005-6, and then went on to not only square the hard-fought Test series against India (in India), but pulverise the Indian side 5-1 in the following ODI series. Inzamam himself was in devastating form as a batsman during these series.By 2006, however, Inzamam's tactics had begun to wear thin. By then the team was regularly going on tours with an entourage of famous TJ members and preachers. As his insecurities as a captain grew, so did his demands for a show of religiosity from the players.Some players began to react negatively. His vice-captain, Younis Khan, though a religious man (who kept his faith private), never fell in line with Inzamam's demands.Former PCB chief, Shahryar Khan, claims that Inzamam was never secure as a captain and was weary of Younis whom he thought was out to usurp his captaincy.Khan also suggested (in a 2013 book), that Inzamam kept talented players like Misbah-ul-Haq and Saeed Ajmal out of the team. According to Khan, Inzamam thought that Misbah's cosmopolitan, world-weary and liberal disposition might threaten his (Inzamam's) regime based on a particular brand of the faith.But it was tear-away fast bowler, Shoaib Akhtar, who reacted the most aggressively against Inzamam's devices. Being a throwback of the more flamboyant and extroverted era of Pakistan cricket, Akhtar regularly clashed with Inzamam and refused to toe the new party line.Inzamam's captaincy finally collapsed during the 2007 World Cup. Officials touring with the team complained that Inzimam and other players who had joined the TJ were putting more effort in trying to find fresh recruits for TJ than in playing cricket.Inzamam retired from the game in 2007 and became a full-time preacher with the TJ.Captaincy Record (2003-2007):Tests: 11 won, 10 lost, 9 drawn.ODIs: 55 won, 33 lost, 3 no result.T20: 1 won.Misbah-ul-HaqWhen he was handed over the captaincy in 2011, Pakistan was already facing a terrible existentialist crisis. Religious extremists were bombing mosques, shrines and schools and slaughtering civilians, cops and soldiers.Pakistan was on the brink of a civil war that today has become a forgone reality, as the government, the military and the country's ravaged polity prepares for an all-out war with the extremist insurgents in the country's mountains and cities.Misbah's captaincy is also unique because he has never led the Pakistan team in Pakistan. No foreign team has been willing to tour the country ever since extremists attacked the Sri Lankan squad in Lahore in 2009.All of Misbah's games as captain have been played, won, lost and drawn on foreign soil. Teams have to do well outside of their own countries, on foreign tours and in front of foreign crowds, to fully prove their prowess. That's what the Pakistan team has been doing ever since 2009, especially after Misbah took up the captaincy in 2011.When Misbah was handed over the captaincy, he was making his third comeback to the side at the age of 36. He had made his debut for the national squad in 2001, but lost his place after losing form in 2002.But in spite of the fact that he continued to perform well in the domestic circuit, he could not break back into the team till five years later when he was finally recalled in 2007. Though this time around he lasted longer and did well, he again lost form and his place in early 2011.Between Inzamam's retirement in 2007 and Misbah's elevation to the post of captain in late 2010-11, the team went through five captains. The team was being torn from all sides by vicious infighting, multiple players' rebellions and charges of spot-fixing.The interesting thisng is when the board was looking for a more permanent candidate for captaincy, Misbah began to play his best cricket.After consolidating his place in the team again, Misbah began to undo whatever that was left of the culture weaved by Inzamam.He was vehemently criticized for this by some critics and fans, but quietly he managed to pull the team out of the doldrums and make it begin its slow march upwards in world rankings.Misbah's steady approach and tactics not only encouraged the curbing of flamboyant batting skills for the benefit of a more cautious attitude, it eventually (and consequentially), made the role of spinners become more prominent than that of the quick bowlers.This was a clear break from the past in which for almost three decades the Pakistan team had largely banked on fast bowlers to win matches. Under Misbah, the spinners took precedence, and this precedence saw him introduce one of the finest and most innovative off-spinners in the game today: Saeed Ajmal.Batsmen exhibiting patience and good technique were preferred and encouraged, even though, bulk of the batting load continues to be shared by Misbah and the team's other old warhorse, Younis Khan.Misbah's tactics bore fruit ever so slowly but surely.Nevertheless, within two years, Misbah had notched up more Test and ODI victories under his belt than most Pakistani captains. He was able to establish himself as a highly respected and liked skipper in the team by both the seniors and especially by the younger players, all of whom treat him like a father figureHis batting average as a captain has remained to be over 50 and he has notched up more fifties and hundreds as a skipper than he was able to at any time in his career.Inzi's team became as introverted and conservative as Inzamam had become. The current team under Misbah seems to be as down-to-earth, stoic and determined as the man himself. Also, like Misbah, the team does not wear its religion on its sleeves.Faith has once again become a strictly private matter in Pakistan cricket.With a stoic, quiet but secretly ferocious determination, Misbah has managed to become one of the few great captains that Pakistan cricket has produced.Captaincy Record (2011-Current): Tests: 12 won, 7 lost, 8 drawn.ODIs: 36 won, 26 lost, 2 ties, 1 no result.T20: 6 won, 2 lost.