Kamran Akmal Defends Misbah-ul-Haq, Blames Mickey Arthur For Pakistan's Poor State

With pressure increasing on Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq, out-of-favour wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has leapt in defence of the former captain. After a poor run in the first half of 2019 which included the World Cup in England, Pakistan appointed Misbah as their head coach as well as chief selector.

However, the former Pakistan batsman has failed to turn things around so far. In the past 12 months, Pakistan won two Tests and lost three, won two out of three ODIs (one match was rain abandoned) and won three T20Is out of 12 with three washouts.

Pakistan’s performance in England have further piled pressure on Misbah. They managed to win just one game on the tour as they lost the Test series 0-1 and drew the T20 series 1-1. And with Misbah facing the heat for team’s poor performance, he has received some much-needed support from Kamran Akmal.

The veteran wicketkeeper pinned the blame on Misbah’s predecessor Mickey Arthur, saying that the former coach left Pakistan cricket in a mess. He also stated that Misbah is the best man for the job right now and urged PCB to let the former player complete his tenure as coach.

“Misbah has been given the dual role by the PCB for a certain period and it’s only fair that he be allowed to complete that tenure and of course he should be answerable for his policies during that period.

“I understand that he is facing a lot of criticism from all and sundry on television shows and social media and to remove him from his position because of this sort of pressure would be totally wrong. But before blaming Misbah, let’s be clear about who is to blame for the current situation with the Pakistan side,” Kamran Akmal told PakPassion.net.

“Misbah and the current management at PCB can only bear about 10% of the blame but the real fault lies with the people who left us in this mess, namely Mickey Arthur and his predecessor. Those are the people we should make accountable for our current situation. As for Misbah, he is best placed to be at the position he is in because he has seen Pakistan cricket from the ground-up during his time as a domestic cricketer, and I would once again ask that he be allowed to complete his contract and for all questioning to be done at that point,” he added.

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