The National Cricket Academy will host the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) cricket committee meeting today (Friday). PCB Managing Director Wasim Khan will chair the committee which features Wasim Akram, Misbah-ul-Haq, Urooj Mumtaz, Zakir Khan, Mudassar Nazar and Haroon Rashid.
The national side’s recent performance will be evaluated by the committee and the future course will be determined. The most significant decisions to be taken include the decision over the future of head coach Mickey Arthur, the replacement for the recently resigned chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq and the captain(s) for the men’s Test, ODI and T20I sides.
We’ve discussed these subjects in detail over the past weeks, and have given our perspective on these decisions. However, now we need to scrutinize the questions with the noise coming out of the PCB, before thoroughly dissecting them once the decisions have been taken.
Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Akhtar
First and foremost, names as contrasting as Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Akhtar are being peddled as possible replacements for Inzamam-ul-Haq. There have been few brains sharper than Misbah’s in all of the history of Pakistan cricket, and he would be a great appointment in whatever capacity he might be hired – now or in the future.
However, as far as the chief selector is concerned, what the PCB needs to decide with immediate effect – and make it clear for all stakeholders – is the respective powers of the selector, coach and captain in determining the final squad. Furthermore, the selector’s role after the squad has been finalized, especially on foreign tours, should also be clarified, which we’d like to argue should be minimal – once the squad is final, which should be largely at the discretion of the selector, he should have nothing to do with the final shapeup of the starting 11 or their training.
Azhar Ali
As far as the coach and the captain are concerned, the word is that both Mickey Arthur and Sarfaraz Ahmed are going to be retained till the World T20 next year. The retention here means Arthur as head coach for all three formats, obviously, with Sarfaraz leading the ODI and T20I sides.
Before we come to the names being floated for the future Test skipper, if the abovementioned arrangement is continued, as discussed in this space last week, it would mean that the PCB would be happy with Pakistan’s performance in ODIs.
Such a verdict would be shocking, given that since the Champions Trophy win in 2017, Pakistan have been clean swept by New Zealand, Australia and England in bilateral ODI series, with an abysmal Asia Cup campaign and a series defeat against South Africa to add to that. If all that followed by a fifth place finish at the World Cup is satisfactory for the PCB committee, then the future of the national cricket side looks immensely bleak.
Shan Masood and Asad Shafiq
Retaining Sarfaraz for the T20I side and the World T20 makes sense, given his contribution in making Pakistan the number one side in the world in that format. But at a time when all top nations are creating separate sides for different formats, retaining certain individuals for their performances in other formats makes absolutely no sense.
As far as the Test side is concerned, it was a no-brainer that Sarfaraz was going to go – even if Pakistan had won the ODI World Cup. Under Sarfaraz Pakistan have suffered series defeats in the UAE in back to back years against Sri Lanka and New Zealand – their first ever series losses in the Emirates.
The names being floated as Sarfaraz’s Test replacement include Shan Masood and Azhar Ali. Now, Azhar Ali is by far the more experienced man, and definitely more settled in the Test side, while Shan is perhaps the better captain. The South Africa series showed that Shan Masood is now Pakistan’s most reliable Test opener, and if he gets the captaincy to go with that, it might be a bold decision, that might end up serving the side well.
Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan
As hinted in this space earlier, Asad Shafiq would’ve been a contender as well. But perhaps the fact that his own batting has gone downhill over the past couple of seasons meant that he hasn’t been shortlisted.
What would be the worst possible scenario is if Sarfaraz’s axing from the Test captaincy – again, something that had nothing to do with the World Cup – is touted as evidence that the PCB isn’t exactly over the moon about recent performances in ODIs, including the World Cup.
The bottom line is that Pakistan have been atrocious in Tests and ODIs over the past two years, and have been world-beaters in T20Is. That is what the PCB’s verdict should reflect.
