Former Pakistan captain, Rashid Latif, believes that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should not have sacked the former captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and former head coach, Mickey Arthur. Latif believes that their sacking has harmed the national team, and it has proved to be a significant setback to Pakistan cricket.
ALSO READ
Hasan Ali to Miss Pakistan’s 1st T20I Against England
Latif said that despite a disappointing campaign in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, the team was progressing well under the duo and had a great project in their hands.
Former wicket-keeper said that there was no concrete reason to remove Mickey as the head coach of the team and believes that his sacking was only due to the politics within the organization. Latif said that Pakistan had a brilliant record under Mickey Arthur, and he should have been allowed to continue to take the national team to new heights.
Both Mickey and Sarfaraz were removed from their roles soon after the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019. Mickey was sacked just one month after the tournament, while Sarfaraz was sacked after the team’s dismal performance against Sri Lanka in the T20I series in November 2019.
ALSO READ
Ex England Captain Picks Pakistan’s Most Valuable Player [Video]
Latif said that the decision to remove them and appoint Misbah-ul-Haq as head coach of the national side has been a huge setback for the development of the team. He refused to solely blame Misbah for the team’s poor performances as he believes that Misbah has been forced to take the job.
“I don’t blame Misbah-ul Haq perhaps he didn’t want to be head coach. He was young and inexperienced as a coach, so why appoint him? It is the PCB that is to be blamed for what has happened,” Latif said.
The 52-year old expressed his disappointment at Pakistan’s recent ODI series loss against a makeshift England side and said that the team is just not good enough to compete with the top sides in the world. He said that he could only hope that the team performs better in the T20I series because Pakistan does not have room for any more setbacks.
