ABU DHABI: Pakistan Test cricket captain Misbah-ul-Haq has been adorned with the ICC’s Spirit of Cricket Award on Thursday for his contribution in lifting team Pakistan from its number four ranking in Test cricket to number one this year in October .Â
Misbah was adjudged the winner for leading his side to play the game in its true spirit as well as taking Pakistan to the top of the Test rankings table. This was achieved without any international cricket being played in Pakistan since the infamous terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore back in February 2009.
Misbah-ul-Haq is also the first Pakistani to win this award. Previous winners include India’s MS Dhoni (2011), New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori (2012), Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardena (2013), Katherine Brunt (2014) and Brendon McCullum (2015). For 2016, this award has gone to Misbah.
At the arrival of the news, Misbah said that the award was proof for any athlete that age was not a barrier when one wanted to accomplish feats. He also said that he felt humbled and honored to have won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award .
Under Misbah , Pakistan have focused on playing within the rich traditions of the sport with a positive mindset and approach and the results over the years prove it all. His fans and colleagues alike respect and admire him and thats something which no captain was able to command since the great Imran Khan . Misbah’s  success rate as captain has even surpassed that Imran Khan and he’s the most successful captain in the history of Pakistan so far.
