Some would say Misbah-ul-Haq is as un-Pakistani a cricketer as they come. He has no love for the theatrics or the flashiness which were a staple of many of his predecessors.
But hey, when you score a century at Lord's, you need to celebrate it in style.
So there was Misbah, 42 years old, newly sporting a beard but, just like old times, helping Pakistan out of trouble in their first Test Match at the home of cricket. England reduced them to 77/3 but then they made a fatal error: they dropped Misbah when was only 16.
How they would rue that! In typical unflustered style, Misbah blocked some and smashed some on his way to a century, becoming the oldest Test captain to score a hundred. But if you had any questions on his age, Misbah had a fitting answer, dropping to his knees and pulling off some ten push-ups, with his pads on, mind you, to rapturous applause.
He later revealed that his celebration was in tribute to the army sergeants at Abbottabad where the Pakistani team had a military boot camp before the England tour. "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," he said. "And I promised them, if ever I score a hundred, I will definitely do that to remind you that we were there."
Misbah was still there at the end of Day 1, unbeaten on 110 with Pakistan at 282/6. But seriously, what is it about captains of Asian cricket teams at Lord's?
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