Former Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who recently stepped down as Pakistan’s national selector for the men’s team, addressed Pakistan Cricket Board‘s (PCB) panic reaction after seven players and two coaches, including head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed, were released from the squad and sent back home midway through the Test tour in England. Misbah had resigned shortly after PCB’s announcement earlier this week, following a show-cause notice issued by the PCB to every member of the selection committee.
Speaking on a television show, Misbah alleged double standards in PCB’s treatment of foreign and local coaches, saying the former enjoy more authority and power.
“It is a fact that local and foreign coaches are treated differently in Pakistan cricket. Local coaches have to face more scrutiny and criticism when compared to foreign coaches,” he said.
“I don’t think there is anything wrong in having foreign coaches but what bothers me is we (fans, critics, media, PCB) tend to have a soft corner for foreign coaches,” he added.
Sarfaraz and bowling coach Umar Gul were released from the Pakistan Test squad and PCB sent the team’s white-ball counterparts to England for the final match of the series.
“We tend to give foreign coaches more authority and power and he is held less responsible if the team performs poorly. In contrast, local coaches always facing scrutiny from everyone.”
Misbah said Pakistani cricket fans, critics, former players, and the board need to offer more support to local coaches rather than just criticising them for the sake of it.
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In the wake of the move from the PCB, which received immense scrutiny, Misbah said that reactive calls will do more harm to Pakistan cricket, which is currently in dire need of consistency, patience and a long-term plan.
“We shouldn’t panic and do cosmetic surgery because of pressure. We need to analyse performances and the situation and then decide how to move forward,” Misbah said.
“Unfortunately, we are used to taking reactive decisions in Pakistan cricket.”
He gave examples of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the Indian cricket set-up.
He said the reason India was now dominating Pakistan in cricket was because their players had more exposure and were professionally and mentally strong to perform under pressure.
“Our youngsters are playing too much white-ball cricket and their exposure to red-ball cricket is limited. Not enough four-day cricket. This means they have more chances of cracking under pressure.
“India took time to process and develop and they made gradual investments in their system after the 90s. There is no quick fix to the system.”
