You have to, Mickey Arthur said in an interview with ESPNcricinfo, put a “positive spin on it”. Arthur is, publicly, a cheery sort so it is no surprise he chooses to see it this way.
He did, of course, acknowledge the gravity of the loss. “You lose a massive amount. You don’t only lose a player that averages in the high forties and gets runs at No 5 for you. When you lose your leader, it becomes really tough.”
The positive spin is that the absence of Misbah-ul-Haq from the second Test between New Zealand and Pakistan allows the visitors a glimpse into the future. The problem is when the present is so rosy, well, then the future can only begin to look a little bleak.
This will be only the second Test Misbah has missed for Pakistan in six years, both as suspensions for slow over rates in preceding Tests. He would have missed the Test in any case as he had travelled back to Pakistan soon after the first Test for personal reasons.
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Azhar Ali takes over as captain and Pakistan thus have an early opportunity to assess the succession plan they have in place, one that is likely to be enacted pretty soon. The Australian tour seems a natural way for Misbah to retire – at 42 he can probably still confound physically but what other challenge remains for him? A creditable series result there would be a legacy-sealing end.
In theory, Azhar, the official vice-captain, takes over thereafter.
In practice, Pakistan have handled leadership successions as well as Henry VIII did in his Tudor reign. And Azhar’s leadership stock is low given the problems he has had in reinvigorating the one-day international side.
Whoever does eventually take over though, imagine the task. He will be taking over from the most successful captain in Pakistan’s history and taking forward an era that has been the most stable in Pakistan’s Test side.
He will also be taking over from a galvanic leader, no matter that Misbah’s outward demeanour always suggests the opposite. How much Misbah the leader has come to mean to Pakistan was most obvious in England this summer.
It was crystallised in a moment after a shattering defeat at Edgbaston. Under lots of other captains, in days gone, that defeat could have been part of an unstoppable downwards spiral for Pakistan, an unravelling of the team ethos, disenchantment and distrust spreading quickly.
But when Misbah spoke post-match, there was no despair or brooding. There was no lashing out at his players. On the contrary, he seemed lighter in heart and mind than he had for years. The depth of faith in his side was clear. And sure enough Pakistan stormed back at The Oval, unscarred by two successive defeats, spilling over with self-belief.
That kind of ability, to lead men so, is not gifted upon birth. It is built over time, slowly, with many a stumble and a trip along the way, from joy and trauma alike, on the field but also away from it.
How, in short, can anyone really follow that?
Azhar has often, and derisively, been known as a “mini-Misbah”, and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did see an ostensible likeness in temperament (though likelier that he was not as volatile as other candidates) when making Azhar the ODI captain.
But for all of his commendable traits, he is nothing like Misbah. He may never be, which will be no defeat for he need not be. But he will need to acquire a patina of leadership, one he has not so far been able to do in ODIs.
There is an unbeaten seven-series streak for Pakistan at stake in this Test. It is among the longest unvanquished run they have had in their history. New Zealand, at home, are back in a good place. The surface at Hamilton may help Pakistan, but if it has any of the zest from the last Test, then it will not be easy at all.
“Not easy” is probably pretty good preparation for the coming future as far as Pakistan are concerned.
SCHEDULE:
• First Test New Zealand won by 8 wickets at Christchurch
• Second Test Tomorrow to Tuesday at Hamilton
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