Misbah-ul-Haq’s dual roles with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have often been criticized among cricket circles. The 45-year-old has been at the receiving end from former cricketers, analysts, and sports journalists regarding his roles as the head coach and chief selector.
Not only this, but his coaching gig at the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has also attracted plenty of criticism. Conflict of interest issue is likely going to be addressed with PCB’s new policy; however, all-important meetings are expected between top officials to discuss a number of matters.
National Selection Committee
Both Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan have returned following their annual leaves in England and it is being speculated that Misbah’s dual roles as well as conflict of interest issue will be addressed. It is highly likely to Misbah will have to relinquish one of the roles with reports stating that a former fast bowler is in line to get the job of head of the national selection committee.
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The committee consists of head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and head coaches of all six regional cricket associations which include Abdul Razzaq, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Wasim, Basit Ali, Shahid Anwar, and Abdur Rehman.
PCB Chairman’s Comments Back in 2019
Misbah was given charge of the team as head coach and chief selector in September 2019 for a period of three years, however, in December, Ehsan Mani said that his performance will be reviewed after one year.
Although Mani denied giving any ultimatum to Misbah, he said in an interview that the board will not hesitate to remove the former captain if his performance isn’t satisfactory in a year or so.
I know there is a lot of criticism but we gave dual role to Misbah because that’s the general trend in the cricketing world at the moment. The example of football is also relevant in this case because there only the manager controls the selection and coaching aspects. Although it’s early days but if this decision does not work out, in the next year or so, we will have no hesitation in removing Misbah from the role.
Misbah’s One Year As Coach & Chief Selector
Under Misbah, Pakistan has played four Test series, winning one against Sri Lanka and losing against Australia and England. The series against Bangladesh is yet to conclude as the second match of the 2-match series against Bangladesh was postponed due to COVID-19.
In ODIs, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka 2-0 in a three-match series whereas the only ODI against Bangladesh was abandoned.
When it comes to T20I cricket, Pakistan lost 3-0 against Sri Lanka, 2-0 against Australia, however, they defeated Bangladesh 2-0. Pakistan is currently 1-0 down in the 3-match series against England with the 3rd T20I scheduled for tonight.
Here’s a summary of Misbah’s performance:
| Format | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | No Result | Win/Loss |
| Test | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.666 |
| ODI | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| T20I | 10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0.333 |
Another series defeat in the shortest format would raise eyebrows on Misbah’s performance, as Pakistan’s rare wins have only come against teams that were already ranked below Pakistan and even those weren’t full-strength squads when they played against Pakistan.
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Pakistan’s next assignment is likely going to be against Zimbabwe in October if they get a nod from the government for the tour amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour to South Africa has already been canceled and it remains to be seen whether any other team agrees to tour Pakistan with the Indian Premier League and COVID-19 troubles.
The team will then travel to New Zealand for 2 Tests and 3 T20Is at the start of 2021. Their cricket board has already confirmed that teams including Pakistan, West Indies, and Bangladesh will tour the island nation for action-packed cricket series in 2021. It will be a tough tour for Misbah and his team and if the Men in Green manage to do well, the head coach will have a sigh of relief.
Do you think Misbah should continue as head coach and chief selector of the team? Let us know in the comments section.
No
Never
Bring Back Mickey Aurther
Or Hire Some Genious Person for that Position
No body can understand, why he selects shoaib Malik for this tour. Why not he includes Haider Ali in all three T20’s. No justifications.
All the teams are including youngesters in T20’s and we are still preferring to play with 2-3 players those have 20 years of careers. Why???
If Fakhar Zaman is double minded and not in a frame of mind to play cricket, why we are including him again & again. why not given a chance to KhushDil Shah???
There are many things for which i think needs a full column or an hour discussion.