Misbah-Ul-Haq, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma- (Source: AFP)
Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has finally reacted to the ongoing debacle in Pakistan cricket. Since 2024, the 52-year-old worked with the PCB as one of the four selection committee members and recently resigned as a selector following the insult from the Mohsin Naqvi-led board.
Pakistan are currently on an England tour, where they have lost the first two Test matches. Following the Lord’s Test, PCB abruptly recalled seven players from the squad and replaced them with 7 players without consulting Misbah-ul-Haq. It didn’t go well with the Pakistan legend, and he resigned from his post.
Misbah-ul-Haq slams Biased Treatment Within PCB
In his first reaction, Misbah took a dig at the PCB, accusing the board of bias. The 52-year-old remarked that the board, fans, and the media are lenient towards foreign coaches and biased towards their own legends.
"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," Misbah said on a television show as reported by Business Standard.
"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 are always facing scrutiny from everyone," he added.
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Misbah’s remarks come days after the PCB removed Sarfaraz Ahmed as Pakistan head coach and replaced him with Mike Hesson, who last coached in Test cricket back in 2012. Further, Umar Gul has been sacked as well.
Misbah clarified that he is not against foreign coaches, but wants fair treatment from the PCB.
"I don't think there is anything wrong with having foreign coaches, but what bothers me is we (fans, critics, media, PCB) tend to have a soft corner for foreign coaches," he concluded.
Misbah-ul-Haq Praises India, Urges PCB To Learn From Them
Misbah reiterated that the Pakistan Cricket Board need to give time to coaches and players to establish a system, and they cannot amend things after one failure. He urged the PCB to learn from India who backed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli despite their dip in form.
"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 praising India.
"Unfortunately, we are used to taking reactive decisions in Pakistan cricket." 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," Misbah remarked.
PCB's Over Reliance On Foreign Coaches
It is true that Pakistan love to have foreign coaches at the helm. It started with Richard Pybus in 2001, followed by Bob Woolmer in 2004 and since his demise, Pakistan have had 11 coaches, excluding interim caretakers, and six were foreign coaches, including Mike Hesson who is the latest to join the list.
Mickey Arthur, who led them to the famous 2017 Champions Trophy title, has had the longest continuous stint as the Pakistan head coach. He served for more than three years, between May 2016 and August 2019.
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