Pakistan skipper, Misbah-Ul-Haq led from the front, scoring a brilliant ton against England on day one of the first Test at Lord's on Thursday. Though his century bagged the headlines, his unique ten push-ups celebration also caught the eye, and the centurion revealed that it was a promise he had made to the people of the army in Abbottabad, where they trained before the tour.
Pakistan did not enjoy a great start in the first innings, as Misbah came into bat with the score reading 77/3. But, the captain looked in great form, and showed no signs of worry, even though he was playing in his first Test match in England.
There was an air of confidence in the way he batted, playing some lovely cover drives to the fence, along with some cheeky reverse sweeps as well. Misbah hit 18 boundaries in his unbeaten 110 runs from 179 balls. At the age of 42, Misbah became the oldest Test match captain to hit a century, and also the fifth Pakistan player to score a ton at the iconic Lord's ground.
The skipper, despite staying at the crease for the majority of the opening day, did not show any signs of tiredness, performing those push-ups with ease, after reaching his landmark.
"That was my promise to the army guys. We did a camp in Abbottabad before the skill camp in Lahore, and we used to do an honour code every time, we just stepped into the ground and did ten push-ups. And I promised them, if I ever score a hundred, I will definitely do that to remind you that we were there," ESPNCricinfo quoted Misbah as saying.
But his job is still not done. Misbah has played an important role in helping his team compile 282 for six on the first day, and he needs to play an even bigger role on Day 2. Asad Shafiq also showed great skills to score 73 (130b, 12x4).
The captain wants Pakistan to put at least 400 runs on the board to put pressure on the English batsmen. If they manage to do so, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah will be even more deadly, considering they will have runs to play with, which means more attacking fields.
"Obviously you need at least 400, that's what we are looking forward to," Misbah said.
"We have to work hard, so if we can bat more than a session we could really give us a big advantage. Here at Lord's, the average score is around 400 in the first innings, so that could give us something to put pressure on England."
