Words of praise flowed for skipper Misbah-ul-Haq after he led the team to a crushing win over Australia in the second match in Abu Dhabi today to give Pakistan their first Test series win over the Aussies in 20 years.
The victory that included a record equalling fastest Test century by Misbah is certainly coup de grace to his detractors and critics who until few weeks ago were calling for his head and the name of Shahid Afridi was widely being pushed to replace him as the ODI captain for the World Cup, to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand next year.
"Now everyone can be as diplomatic as they want but the truth is if Afridi had led Pakistan to victory in that match (third ODI against Australia, where Misbah sat out), it would have been curtains for Misbah," former Pakistan Test leg spinner Abdul Qadir told PTI.
"The truth is there were efforts to oust Misbah as ODI captain and from the ODI squad before the World Cup but I salute the man's temperament that he withstood all this pressure to today write his name in cricket's history books," Qadir added.
He said it was no secret that before the series against Australia the team management and Misbah were not on the same page.
"Who are they trying to fool they even didn't want Younis in the ODI squad but as fate would have it now both the seniors can't be ignored for the World Cup," Qadir said.
Pakistan's former Test captain Rashid Latif said Younis and Misbah had shown rare nerves to come out as champions in the Australia series.
"Keeping in mind their services to Pakistan cricket, everyone should have supported them but they were put under pressure while they were going through a bad patch," said Latif. "But the way they came out as winners in this series it just shows they have a strong temperament and character."
The two-match Test series turned out to be a personal triumph for Misbah and Younis.
