I have no plans to call it quits: Misbah-ul-haq

Karachi: Pakistan's under-fire Test and ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq today refused to bow to pressure and insisted that he would continue to play at the international level as long as his form and fitness permitted it.

"I have no plans to call it quits despite the recent disappointing results in Tests and one-dayers in Zimbabwe and against South Africa," Misbah told reporters in Lahore after meeting with chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board's interim management committee, Najam Sethi.

"I will continue to play as long as I can do justice to myself and my team," he added.

Misbah, 39, also reacted calmly to remarks passed by a member of the PCB governing board, Shakeel Sheikh in which he said that what could one expect when a team of lions was led by a Ghidar (Jackal).

"If standing firm out in the middle under pressure is behaving like a Ghidar than I am okay with being a Ghidar... but everyone knows who is what on the field," he said.

The Pakistan skipper has come under severe criticism from some former players particularly ex-captain, Mohammad Yousuf and fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.

Akhtar described Misbah's captaincy as "spiritless" and lacking in aggression and said all the runs he scored made no difference to the team.

Yousuf also called for a change in captaincy.

"Everyone has to remember that cricket is a team game and no one player can be expected to perform all the time. Unless all the players chip in it is difficult to win," Misbah said.

"Our batting has been a major concern for us in recent times and it is letting us down time and again. We shouldn’t be expecting one or two people to score and the rest to do nothing and yet win," he said.

Misbah also made a point that if he started making changes in the team according to performances of players in one or two matches, then Pakistan would be fielding different teams in every second match.

"We just have to be patient and find out the solution to this batting problem which needs to be sorted out before the next World Cup or we can forget about doing well in that tournament," he said.