Misbah can lead or leave, says PCB chief
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ABU DHABI: Beleaguered Misbah-ul-Haq won’t be forced to stand down as Pakistan captain but the country’s top cricket official said that potential successors were already being assessed.
Misbah withdrew from the third and final ODI against Australia in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, after a poor run of form which had coincided with four straight defeats in the 50-over format.
He managed just 67 runs in the 2-1 series defeat in Sri Lanka and nought and 15 in the two defeats against Australia in the current series.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Misbah as one-day captain for the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and reiterated that stance after the defeat in Sri Lanka in August.
PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said the decision to lead the one-day team remains with Misbah.
“I told him, we appointed you till the World Cup,” Khan said. “We were criticized for it and we will be now, even more, as he has not scored runs.
“But we remain totally firm that we have put our support behind him and he will lead.
“If he thinks leadership will not deliver, then it is up to him. We told him we will not push you out. This is the view of all three of us — Waqar Younis (coach) and Moin Khan (manager and chief selector). “Khan said Misbah was determined to put things right.
“If he does, he is back but other names are of course considered as a contingency plan,” added Khan.
All-rounder Shahid Afridi, who Misbah replaced as captain in May 2011, led Pakistan in Sunday’s final one-dayer and would be the top contender for World Cup in February-March should Misbah stand down.
Khan said that withdrawing from Sunday’s game was Misbah’s own decision.
“Misbah decided that he needed a break from the rather depressing scores he has had in Sri Lanka as well as here. The management also agreed that if he wanted to sit this out it is his decision.
“No one coerced him. He himself decided that this is the right time for him to take a break and see if he can recover in the Tests.
“He is depressed at the fact that he hasn’t been scoring and I found it very noble on his part that he said: ‘If the day comes when I get an idea that the team is suffering because of me, then I will myself say, let me go’.
“Misbah says if he is back to form then he’d like to lead to the World Cup.”
Misbah will skipper the team in the two Tests against Australia which follow the one-dayers.
Misbah has captained Pakistan in 76 ODIs, winning 40 and losing 33 with two tied and one no-result.
Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2014
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Oct 13, 2014 10:16am
This is how PCB publicly treats a senior player who has given so much to Pakistan cricket? Seriously? Just see how the ECB stood by Alistair Cook these past few weeks. Really, it's not the players who need a shrink, it's these PCB officials...
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Oct 13, 2014 10:28am
It seems very strange. I mean if he is struggling with runs, the best way to get in form is to be out there. He is not going to get back in form by sitting in dressing room. I love misbah, he is very nobel but i think age catches up at some point. Afridi is no better and he will become captain by default. I cant believe we have put up with him for 20 years
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Oct 13, 2014 10:37am
PCB chief & Waqar Younis must leave. They are promoting grouping in the team. Misbah & Younis khan must come back to the team with honor.
We do not need Umar Amin, Saad Naseem & Umar Akmal in the team.
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Oct 13, 2014 10:40am
PCB has repeatedly treated its seniors with utmost disgrace. Yousuf, Younus and now Misbah. These players have done so much for the country but blaming one person for the failure is not fair. Afridi should be the one is not entitled to play in any format.
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Oct 13, 2014 10:48am
@Calcutta Man O come on man, he is being supported by PCB what else u want?
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Oct 13, 2014 10:56am
Waqar Younis & Moin khan are
the ones to be pushed out forget
the World Cup the whole Pcb needs to be sanitized, untill the
whole system is sterile there won't
be any improvement.for the time
being get Mohsin Khan on let him
pick up where he left off as interim
coach till the World Cup.
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Oct 13, 2014 10:57am
i respect misbah for what he has accomplished for pakistan in "test cricket" in past 4 to 5 years, but this doesn't mean we should look the other way when it comes to odi format. Misbah lacks the ability to lead the team from the front, his defensive and safety first approach mind set has brought no laurels in the one day cricket for pakistan. I think he needs to bow out with dignity at the moment.
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Oct 13, 2014 10:57am
i respect misbah for what he has accomplished for pakistan in "test cricket" in past 4 to 5 years, but this doesn't mean we should look the other way when it comes to odi format. Misbah lacks the ability to lead the team from the front, his defensive and safety first approach mind set has brought no laurels in the one day cricket for pakistan. I think he needs to bow out with dignity at the moment.
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Oct 13, 2014 10:58am
Can't PCB see that he's just not the right man to lead the team?. How many more defeats are we going to have before PCB realizes that their captain is weak? Hmm?.
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Oct 13, 2014 10:59am
Poor management galore. PCB never ceases to surprise you. I wonder just how tactful & brilliant their "stand-in" captains are, especially being inspirational through their own, individual, performances? Fact is, due to the failed policies, or ineptness, of the board, no future captain has been developed. In a proper domestic structure, like that of Australia, potential national captains are groomed as part of the process (in the first class cricket that is). As for Misbah, I have loads of respect for he has contributed brilliantly, particularly in that turbulent period for our cricket.
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Oct 13, 2014 10:59am
Replacement Captain Afridi is a poor choice. He is wreckless and too non-serious a batter to deserve a place in the team. The third and last one dayer at Abu Dhabi was there to be taken. Less than one run a ball, ten overs to go and he goes for a bouncer pulling it from off side to the leg, an impossible shot even for a player in prime but he always falls for such non-sense shots. He should not be even in the team! Misbah has played. The statement is there to make him announce his retirement if he can read between the lines!
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Oct 13, 2014 10:59am
Our batsmen simply lack character and so does the captain and the new captain and perhaps a future captain among present circumstances will too. The way afridi played after being given the captaincy was ugly beyond doubt. Players like Afridi and Akmals need to be dropped. I have no doubt pak would be better off playing 11 bowlers than any of the current batsmen.
Pakistan needs an overhaul and wholesale changes if we are to compete in near future. The team during the Inzamam era was doing much better with similar talent pool. He showed what leadership ability can do for the team. We are lacking a respectful captain.
perhaps we need to give responsibility to a young captain like Smith was once for South Africa or Dhoni for India who was made captain at a very young age in the team that had Dravid, tendulker, agarkar, sehwag and laxman. We need to do the same. Perhaps Ahmed shahzad or sarfaraz (captained pak in u19 worldcup and A tour matches) will be a good choice.
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Oct 13, 2014 11:05am
This is insane show respect to a class player!!!!
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Oct 13, 2014 11:16am
neither Misbah, nor Shahid Afridi nor PCB alone are at fault. Fact is we've been running on empty gas tank for too long. Decade long mismanagement, nepotism and blue eyed boys culture has already started to show its effect in full swing. Right now, we have absolutely not a single world class batsman, no batting depth, no top class fast bowlers and our fielding sucks as always. We have an army of coaches under fanciful titles who draw heavy salaries and unworldly perks yet have not delivered any visible improvements. The so called grassroot cricket academies have failed to unearth any raw talent. And then we have an ever dysfunctional, imotent PCB with a top heavy management whose only interest and professional expertise are in the areas of six figure salaries and free joyrides on taxpayers' expense. We can moan, complain and sugggest changes and keep shuffling the team all we want but as I said earlier, we are running on empty tank here. Things are only going to get worse just like it happened in hockey. And the other sad fact is that in case of Pakistan, there's no end to this decay and rot. We cannot say that we've hit the rock bottom and now things can only get better. It does not happen in Pakistan.
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Oct 13, 2014 11:18am
When will Afridi think that his team or the nation has had enough of him?
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Oct 13, 2014 11:26am
@Shoaib Zafar Kasuri
What is said behind closed doors remains behind closed doors. What Shaharyar Khan is doing, he's defending himself against charges that Misbah was "dropped".
And come on, you don't say in PUBLIC, "Yes, we stand by the captain, but he can leave if he wants to." This is telling the world the board is okay with their captain leaving, that he won't be missed.
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Oct 13, 2014 11:37am
wow ... just wow! so it just dawned upon him in the middle of an ongoing series that he's not fit enough to lead the team and hence conveniently decides to "step aside". Some leadership skills!!
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Oct 13, 2014 11:58am
Misbah shold leave at his own in respectable way and this is the right time.
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Oct 13, 2014 12:27pm
Such Straneg things in pure crickt terms " the man in dire straits to decide if he wants to abondon the ship or sink with the ship " can Only be expected in the org called PCB with respect to a repeated failure of the man in his 40 ! . Younus on the other hand was given Just One or 2 matchs in Srilanka ( he had to return due to death in the family ) and not even considered for selection in the ODI agaunst Australia !!!! In my humble opinion , Not only the captain But the entire team must be sacked fully an replaced with the full under 21 team .... What shame , humiluiation and degrading in the ICC ranking , that under 21 team will bring to the country which this so called start studded Self proclaimed eggoistic YoYos at tge age of 30+ are not already repeatedly bringing to the Country and its fans ....... Sack Them All as soon as possible ( just after the test series with Australia is over ) and Annopunce the under 21 team as the Team which will represent Pakistan ( not PCB ) in the comming Worldcup
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Oct 13, 2014 12:34pm
@calcuttaman thats why england and pk are languishing in world ckt coz their boards give immunity to senior players without any conditions while Australia doesnt allow that sort of culture and hence rules the roost. Im sorry but misbah at 40 is a done deal and world cup is almost a dead deal for pakistan
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Oct 13, 2014 12:50pm
Why PCB is so apologetic about a non-performing captain and batsman? Rest of the world simply drops the non-performing cricketers without any fall back.
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Oct 13, 2014 01:15pm
151 ODIs and top score 94 not out. What more u want from him. There can be no better man to lead the gang of eleven(Made in Lahore)
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Oct 13, 2014 01:18pm
How a 40 year old could play in a team is beyond me misbah,he cant run,cant feel, has poor power play judgement and needs to go. He is not a 20/20 or one day batsmen. Bring in Umar Amin, Saad Naseem and Shoaib Maqsood.With Hafeez Junaid and Ajmal also to come back in I would give the Captaincy to a young player and groom him in slowly. Also take out Akmal,and Afrifdi would only be used as a spin bowler in Ajamal absence. We need to go forward and develop a young team not going back to the older players.
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Oct 13, 2014 01:22pm
PCB is the most ungrateful organization on this planet! The problem is not the captain but the mindset of the whole team.
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Oct 13, 2014 01:46pm
So we have got ever in-form Afridi in place for the out-of-Form Misbah ? Have we gone mad ? What has he done since the past few years other then engaging media attention. Just where stands our country and its democracy today exactly there lies our team. How long we will cancer with despreen ? Changes will only come from the top. We cannot expect miracles at the bottom level when top is all corrupt. I am afraid nobody is talking about how to improve our domestic cricket.
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Oct 13, 2014 01:54pm
Problem is not Misbah problem is the PCB and cricket culture. Misbah and Yonus must be given a chance to retire with due honor. I don't like Misbah style of captaincy but having said that he still need an honorable good bye!
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Oct 13, 2014 02:31pm
Misbah and afridi both have to go. The main issue is the inability to rotate strike. Pakistan play so many dot balls and create pressure. I still remember when pakistan lost to India in dead rubber when they required 50 odd in 120 balls with wickets in hand and misbah batting and they lost badly. Pakistan just go into a shell, we dont have any player who plays fearless cricket.
If afridi still has a place, then he should open or come in at 3. He is wasted down the order.
TBH - Pakistan needs a whole new team with a young captain. We won't win the world cup so we may as well start afresh with a young captian ala South Africa with Greame Smith.
My Pakistan 11 are as follows
Ahmad Shezad
Sarfaraz Ahmed
Shoaib Malik (Captain)
Mohammad Hafeez
Umar Akmal
Shoaib Maqsood
Saad Naseem
Anwar Ali
Umar Gul
Raza Hassan
Zulfiqar Babar/Mohammed Irfan (depending on pitch)
We also need to tell our bowlers to become bowlers who can bat.
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Oct 13, 2014 02:33pm
@Calcutta Man whats Misbah has contributed to Pak Cric??? not a single 100 in his carrier....
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Oct 13, 2014 03:21pm
PCB looks like an "old people home". For Gods sake we have separate institutions for senior citizens like misbah, shaheryar khan, afridi, younus etc. This is strange way of respecting our adults by inducting them in national cricket team.
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Oct 13, 2014 04:52pm
@Guest64 . Fully agreed. I also think that under 21 team for the upcoming world cup is seriously a very good idea. I wish more and more people should endorse it.
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Oct 13, 2014 06:41pm
It is quite amusing to see what a funny state of affairs Pakistani team is in now-a-days. I have to confess that I used to be in awe in my younger days to see the greats like IK, Wasim, Salim Malik, Qadir etc. But now, when I read about the Pakistani team, the only emotion that comes to me is "Pity".
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Oct 13, 2014 06:41pm
What a joke by the unopposed elected PCB chief who gave a statement few days ago that Misbah-ul-Haq will stay put till the 2015 Cricket World Cup downunder?
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Oct 13, 2014 07:54pm
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad it's conspiracy from bcci and icc.What do u say?
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Oct 13, 2014 10:35pm
Its not about Mishbah's performance as a batsman, its his defensive approach as a captain which is causing the overall bad performance of the team.
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Oct 14, 2014 03:18am
This should not be his decision, the decision must be taken in the interest of nation's reputation, the team needs a more stable and proactive captain, Misbah has been given too many chances unnecessarily wasting precious time required for team building before World Cup.
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Oct 14, 2014 04:09am
Misbah has captained Pakistan in 76 ODIs, winning 40 and losing 33 [ Lost 43%]
Afridi has captained Pakistan in 34 ODIs, winning 18 and losing 15 [ Lost 44% ]
Still Misbah is better not to count last 4 years when Afridi averages hardly came above 0 and Misbah was holding the team. Afridi is good for talks and making runs when no one needs it.
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Oct 14, 2014 04:44am
Politics that is why team can't perform
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Oct 14, 2014 08:19am
All the seniors playes , couches , selectors and chairman of the board must be fired right after the test series in uae ends if we like to see pakistan in cricket world. Shaharyar lacks in decision making, eversince he took over the team perfoance is getting worse and worse. pakistan cricket deserve one last and final chance to play in the world cup next year with new players, new couches, new manager, new selectors and new chairman. I hope not but if they fail in the world cup then Pakistan must quit from cricket world and spend all the funds , efferts, talents and focus with international couches to boost soccar in pakistan. I have a very strong feeling and very optimistic we will do very well in this field and once again we will flare Pakistani flag up high in different parts of the soccar world as long as our honest selectors stay away from favourtism of selecting friends and family members. Good luck Pakistan for the bright future of the soccar world ahead........
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Oct 14, 2014 10:22am
Poor choice of words for a former diplomat
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Oct 14, 2014 10:29pm
It's not that if Misbah wants to lead he can play or else leave the captaincy. The control should be in the hands of PCB and not Misbah. Misbah had his good days and now he should retire for another person who is capable of leding the team and PCB must decide it. Misbah should say bye-bye to one day cricket.
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