Cricket's Fit Old Men

By Vikram Afzulpurkar

Misbah-ul-Haq's position in the team is strengthened as he is appointed Pakistan's universal captain at a late age. Cricket has several late debutants, late blossomers and may see in the next four years, another frontier of age broken by three Indians.


Master Stroke
Among other reasons, Misbah ul Haq’s elevation to Pakistan captain for all formats seems to be a good way to prolong the career of a talented but late blossoming cricketer. It’s a tough call sometimes for the selectors when a batsman 37 years of age does not get the runs, understandably because of a lean patch or sheer scoring opportunities, yet knowing that there is more than one last hurrah from the hard hitter.

As a captain, he fulfills a utility role and doubtless in that volatile climate seems to be a man the whole team gets along well with. From Pakistan’s point of view, it’s a master move.

Late Debutants

Aamir Sohail debuted at 28

John Crawley came at 28

Talking about late blossomers, Aamir Sohail from that country made his debut at age 28 which in the relatively conservative times of 1991 was considered very late. He too went on to captain the national side and showed a commanding presence. Other late debutants in international cricket during the 1990s have been John Crawley of England at 28 and possibly the biggest trendsetter of that decade, Colin Miller, the multi utilitarian (could bat, bowl pace and off spin). However, by the time of Miller’s debut around 1998-9, the trends had changed globally to allow for an older but fit player to make his initial mark.

Colin Miller debuted at 33

Longevity
The question mark in most Indians minds is whether or if so when Rahul Dravid or Laxman will call it quits. For that matter even Tendulkar. Our mindsets dominate to make us believe the current tour of England is ‘definitely their last.’ However, if these three musketeers just confine themselves to play Test cricket, they may even have another tour of England, in 2015. As one astute observer said “As long as they stand in the slips and catch everything, how difficult is it to bat to hundreds and continue to contribute to the team.” Yes, especially with the fitness levels attained by cricketers these days and specialist physios help available, this may even may possible.

England's Wilfred Rhodes played  Test cricket till 52

Records
True, age is solely a number as one finds probably a 42 year old Dravid, Tendulkar or a 43 year old Laxman take on the English in England again. Of course, it would be too much in this era to expect them to drag it on for another ten years. Englishman Wilfred Rhodes holds the record for being the oldest Test player at 52 years. But who knows that even that day may arrive in the latter part of this century when a whole new generation arrives.


Mirror images

Mirror Images: India and Pakistan captains Dhoni and Misbah have similar styles both in batting and captaincy

Coming back to Misbah, it remains to be seen how freely he bats when he is captain. There is a similarity between his and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s hard hitting bottom handed styles as well as their readiness to construct and innings. The two Asian foes, India and Pakistan seem to have mirror images of cricket captains. That too, captains of all three formats of the game!