Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq recently resigned as selector and batting consultant of the Lahore-based national cricket academy. The veteran decided to leave his posts after he was not taken into confidence regarding the decision to send seven players back following the loss in the second Test against England at Lord’s. With that loss, Babar Azam‘s side lost the series with a game left to play.
Misbah appeared on a local TV show where he alleged that there was discrimination in the PCB. Misbah mentioned that overseas coaches were given different treatment than the local coaches. “There is different treatment given to foreign coaches in comparison to locals, and this is a fact. Home-grown coaches face more criticism than the overseas recruits.”
He also went on to add, “I don’t think there is anything wrong with having overseas personnel, but we as fans, people in the media and PCB seem to have a soft corner for them. We give them power, authority, and also hold them less responsible if the team performs poorly, which is not the case with local coaches.”
The 2017 Champions Trophy-winning captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was removed as Test head coach after the loss at Lord’s. The 39-year-old was previously serving as the coach of the Under-19 team before getting elevated to the national side. Mike Hesson, who has previously faced multiple questions, was given charge of the team for the final Test match.
Former skipper cautions against panic and praises Indian cricket model
In the same TV show, Misbah urged the current Pakistan cricket management to develop the game and the players rather than pressing the panic button. “We shouldn’t panic and make wholesale changes because of the pressure. The focus should be on analysing performances, situations, and then move forward. But we are used to taking reactive decisions, which is unfortunate.”
The 52-year-old then pointed out Indian cricket and its successful attempts to fix the system. “Take a look at India. They also took time to develop and made investments in their system post the 90s, so there is no quick fix to anything. Our young cricketers are playing a lot more white-ball matches than red-ball cricket, because there aren’t many four-day games, leading to below-par performances under pressure.”
Misbah-ul-Haq helped his side win 26 Tests from 56 games. He also led the side in 87 ODIs, winning 45, while the Men in Green secured six victories out of eight matches under his leadership in the T20I format.