Lahore: Misbah-ul-Haq has stepped down as the Pakistan men’s team chief selector. But, the former captain will carry on working as the national team’s head coach, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Wednesday (October 14). This is the first time in the history of Pakistan Cricket an official held a dual role as a chief selector and as a head coach since September 2019.
The new chief selector will begin his tenure from December 1 and until then, Misbah will continue to carry out selection responsibilities. The decision means Misbah will declare the squads for the home series against Zimbabwe on October 19 and then for the away series against New Zealand.
Chief selector: ❌
— ICC (@ICC) October 14, 2020
Head coach: ✔️
Misbah-ul-Haq steps down from one of his roles with the Pakistan men's team. pic.twitter.com/GF2bBlnTZe
He also held a press conference about his decision at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. “I have thoroughly enjoyed the dual roles but after reviewing the past 12 months and looking ahead at the workload in the next 24 months of my tenure, it is appropriate that I invest and dedicate all my time, energy and attention to one role from now on,” Misbah said.
“Coaching is my passion and my ultimate objective remains to contribute to the development of players and help the side achieve bigger successes. When I was appointed last year, I was offered the coaching role first and then given the option to also head the selection committee, which I had graciously accepted,” he added.
“I am grateful to the Pakistan Cricket Board for their understanding and for supporting my thought process. I had been thinking about the demands and rigours of the dual roles for some time. The meetings with the National High-Performance staff and the Cricket Association coaches in the past two weeks have provided me better clarity and helped me in my decision-making as I believe we now have a strong system in place,” he further added.
“With the new Cricket Association system in full flow, the chief selector has to be able to watch as much domestic cricket as possible. With a big 24 months now coming up, we have mutually agreed that there is a need for me now to be fully focused on one role.”
“I look forward to a strong working relationship with the new chair of the selection committee and hope together we will achieve our collective objectives,” he stated.
PCB chief executive Wasim Khan said, “The PCB wholeheartedly respects Misbah’s decision on stepping away from the chief selector role. When he took on the national head coach role, we also required him to take on the chief selector’s role due to circumstances at that point in time.”
“Pakistan has three global events, including two Asia Cups and the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, as well as 10 Future Tour Programme commitments over the next 24 years. As head coach of the national side, he has reassessed his priorities and believes he has a better chance of producing the desired results by focusing solely on the coaching side. We are very happy to support his thinking on this,” Wasim added.
“Over the last two weeks, Misbah has worked closely with the other selectors to finalise the squads for both the upcoming series with Zimbabwe and the New Zealand tour, which will follow in November. We are grateful that this process is near completion, allowing time for the new chief selector to be in post to begin work from 1 December.”
“With a new chief selector, we will revisit the selection criteria to ensure that there is complete alignment between the Selection Committee, the High-Performance Centre and the national men’s cricket team. With so much red and white-ball cricket ahead, we will need to select squads that have a strong balance between youth and experience,” Wasim concluded.
Misbah took over the job after the PCB terminated Mickey Arthur’s contract as Pakistan failed to reach the semis of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Misbah retired from all forms of cricket in 2017, and is Pakistan’s most successful Test captain, leading his side to 26 wins in 56 matches.
