Misbah gets a lifeline as PCB recoils into timidity
The Pakistan Selection Committee has convened a meeting to review the tenures of Misbah ul-Haq and Waqar Younis. The decision to review the management's performance came after Pakistan failed to win a single away series across all formats last year. Their best away result was the 1-1 draw against England in the T20 series.
While PCB was initially reluctant to strip Misbah ul-Haq of his duties as a chief selector, the organization finally gave in following the defeat to Zimbabwe in the final one-dayer between the two sides.
Misbah ul-Haq's tenure as a chief selector and a head coach has been nothing less than a nightmare. If the dying days of Mikey Arthur's regime were sour, this was worse.
Despite being the number one team in the game's shortest format, Pakistan managed to lose more matches than they won under Misbah. In Test matches, they only picked up two wins out of ten, both at home against two depleted outfits - Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The Test series against New Zealand underlined the gulf between the two teams. Pakistan's approach was reminiscent of Misbah ul-Haq's cautious mindset as they stayed behind the game right throughout the series. The team lacked direction and guile as the series turned out to be an epic mismatch between the two nations.
The manner of defeat in the second Test at Christchurch raised questions regarding the continuation of the current management. Misbah ul-Haq had difficult questions to answer, and so did the PCB.
The decision to invite the selection committee to undertake a review of the team's performances seemed to be a step in the right direction. It was a timely intervention from the board to hold the team management accountable for the results.
It seemed quite likely that the PCB wanted to take drastic measures to arrest the slide. However, to everyone's disappointment, they stopped short of taking the bold call to fire Misbah and the rest of his team. The selection committee headed by Saleem Yousef recoiled into their shell and gave the management another series for redemption.
Misbah ul-Haq was appointed to improve the team's culture, fitness, and most importantly, Test results. Pakistan has achieved none of that in the last year. The team culture has only grown worse, with senior players expressing unhappiness at the management's treatment of players.
The decision to pick players from the PSL rather than first-class cricket was another blot in Misbah's selection calls. This led to many top domestic performers missing opportunities to play for the national side.
The PCB had a great opportunity to set things straight, one which they never really took. A lack of courage from the PCB to officially sack Misbah may have given the latter another lifeline. However, this could prove to be a costly mistake for the Pakistan cricket team.