Tweetistan stands by Pak skipper Misbah

Some call it the World Cup jinx, others blame the collapse in its batting order.

Yet, despite a crushing defeat by India during Sunday’s face-off at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Pakistan team skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has won the battle on social media as fans continue to come out in support of the veteran player.

Fans from the sub-continent took to social media to support Pakistan team’s ‘distraught’ captain after Sunday’s 76-run loss against India, a far cry from the practice of burning effigies and issuing death threats against its players in the past, said one cricket enthusiast.

Imran Khan Mughal tweeted: “After Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Misbah-ul-Haq is the only man over 40 who has actually fought for Pakistan with true passion.”

Waleed Khan wrote: “Misbah not only won Pakistan’s heart but also won every cricket fan in the world.”

Balochi King added: “Pakistan will not give up after losing the first game, Pakistan vs India. Hats off to Misbah – a lone warrior ‘Misbah vs India’.”

Naveed Iftikhar wrote: “We are not disappointed, Sohail Khan and Wahab Riaz great combination. Misbah is always Mr Reliable for me.”

Imtiaz Ali Kazmi ‏echoed the statement, saying: “Misbah, Shahid (Afridi) and Younis (Khan) played last time in their career with India and Misbah was victorious.”

M ShahZaib Siddiqui said: “Misbah you are really superb captain. Pakistani nation salutes you!”

The fan support has seen ‘Misbah’ continue to trend on the UAE Twitter charts a day after the match, a face-off that saw the Pakistan cricket team lose a sixth time against the Indian order at the Cricket World Cup since 1992.

Pakistan, chasing a total of 301 runs for the win, saw its batting order take a beating when Indian bowler Umesh Yadav dismissed Pakistani opener Ahmed Shehzad at 47, following which, the team was soon reduced to 103 for five under 25 overs.

Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq faced a lone battle that saw his scorecard notch up to 76 runs as his team members were struck down one by one.
At the post match ceremony, Misbah was quoted as saying: “We lost our way with three wickets in the middle. The pitch was really good, and with the quality of their batting, 300 was a pretty good effort. If all the batsmen had batted well, it could have been achieved.”

The team and captain and now fans are looking for Pakistan to shake off the defeat and put their efforts into the rest of their matches.
 

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