Table of Contents
Former Pakistan National Cricket Team captain Misbah-ul-Haq mentioned the India National Cricket Team as an example to describe why Pakistan is left behind in international cricket. According to him, constant changes make the situation unstable for the players and coaches, which ultimately left a bad impression on the team's performance.
After two heavy defeats against the England National Cricket Team in Leeds and London, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sacked seven cricketers, head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed, and his assistant coach Umar Gul from the Test team setup. In the recent past few years, there were many instances when, in search of satisfying results, PCB sacked coaches and players in sudden moves.
Misbah-ul-Haq explains why Team India is ahead of the Pakistan cricket team
In a recent conversation, Misbah-ul-Haq noted that the Indian cricket team has progressed at a rapid pace because BCCI followed a proper blueprint and made gradual investments in continuation of a streamlined process for a stable team.
The investments in the Board of Control for Cricket in India made after the 90s proved fruitful in the following years. The former batter stated that the Pakistan Cricket Board is also required to follow a well-thought-out process to bring the team on the right track.
"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-ul-Haq said in a television show, according to PTI.
Misbah-ul-Haq suggests to prioritise multi-day cricket more
Misbah-ul-Haq, who recently resigned from his position in Pakistan’s selection committee following the defeats against England, observed that the focus of the young Pakistani cricketers is now mostly on playing limited-over matches rather than on multi-format day games. As the cricketers are not habituated to multi-day matches from the beginning of their careers, it becomes difficult for them to accostombed with the gruelling nature of the five-day cricket format.
"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," the former Pakistan skipper added.
Misbah-ul-Haq expresses what bothers him the most about Pakistan cricket
From his personal observations, the 52-year-old claimed that in Pakistan, local coaches have to go through more scrutiny than any other foreign coaches. While he is not against appointing foreign coaches, he observed that there is a soft corner in his nation towards the overseas coaches, which bothers Misbah the most.
"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. 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,” Misbah expressed.
In place of Sarfaraz Ahmed, PCB appointed their white-ball coach Mike Hesson as the interim head coach for the longest format of the game. Hesson will be in charge when Pakistan faces England for the third Test match at Edgbaston.
