LAHORE: Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq was presented with the ICC Test Championship mace by ICC Chief Executive David Richardson at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore today (Wednesday), officially marking Pakistan’s number one Test ranking.
The ICC CEO David Richardson awarded the test mace to Misbah-ul-Haq on Pakistan’s reaching to the top of the ranking in the world under his leadership.
Misbah is the first Pakistani captain to be honoured with the Test mace, which is awarded to the world’s best side in Test cricket. Pakistan became the top Test team for the first time since the current rankings system was introduced in 2003 after drawing the series against England 2-2.
Pakistan tops the test ranking with 111 points followed by India with 110 points. Australia and England are at third and fourth place respectively with 108 points each.
Speaking at the ceremony at Gaddafi stadium, Misbah, 42, said it was the proudest moment of his life.
“We beat the world’s best teams to become number one. The nation, the team and I are honoured,” he said.
Misbah congratulated and thanked the entire team on the memorable occasion and said that the feat was a result of hard work and unity. “No captain can achieve success without good players,” he said, adding that it would be a challenge to maintain the top rank but the team was ready to face up to the task.
“We have important matches coming up against West Indies, New Zealand and Australia and we would need to keep up the performance,” Misbah said.
The skipper added that what made this achievement all the more special was the fact that Pakistan had won this feat without playing a single match on its home soil.
He said that all other teams achieve some of the best records playing on their soil and rely on home advantage for an edge, yet Pakistan defeated the best of the best without that advantage.