LAHORE - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday announced former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has stepped down from the PCB Cricket Committee after expressing interest in applying for the role of the national cricket team’s head coach.
Misbah met PCB Director International Cricket Zakir Khan here and informed him about his decision, following which he formally applied for the head coach’s role. “It has been interesting to see my name being mentioned as a future head coach of Pakistan cricket team, but the fact is that I only made the decision today.
I am applying for the head coach’s role fully aware that the competition will be tough as I envisage there will be a few more very competent and highly qualified people applying for one of the most challenging jobs in the game,” Misbah said and added: “In saying so, I have to admit it is everyone’s dream to coach Pakistan cricket team, which has tremendous potential to be a force to be reckoned with across all formats.”
The PCB advertised for the head coach’s role on August 9, with the last date for applications being August 26. The PCB hopes to complete the process by early September so that the new team management can assume charge in time to prepare the Pakistan cricket team for the forthcoming international season, which commences on September 27 with the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka in Karachi.
Meanwhile, Pakistan U19 team newly-appointed head coach, former Test cricketer Ejaz Ahmad Monday vowed to prepare future cricket stars for Pakistan team. “It is a challenging task to coach junior team but I have accepted this challenge as I have already served Pakistan U19 team in the past and some of the players of Pakistan senior team including Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq and Immad Wasim are the produce of U19 and Pakistan A teams, way back in 2008, when I was its coach,” he told reporters here at the Gaddafi Stadium.
Ejaz said he is thankful to the PCB for having faith in him and he will do his best to live up to the expectations with the help of his experience by identifying new players, who may serve the national cricket for next 10 years. He will resume his new responsibility after ACC U19 Asia Cup and his first assignment will be team’s participation in the 8-nation tournament in Kenya next month.
Ejaz will also work with Pakistan U16 and Pakistan A teams and he will supervise Pakistan U16 team during the visit of Bangladesh team to Pakistan and in Emerging Asia Cup.
Recalling his youth days and early career in competitive cricket, the former reliable Test batsman said: “I am also the product of Pakistan U19 cricket and I started my career from that platform. I know its importance as it plays a paramount role in sharpening the skills of a young upcoming cricketer and that is why I like to work with Pakistan U19 team.”
He said his short-term goals include preparing the players both mentally and physically to become quality cricketers with zero tolerance on indiscipline. “My prime objective is to identity new blood for Pakistan team to serve the country for quite a long time and I firmly believe that Pakistan U19 is the backbone of future of Pakistan,” said Ejaz.
“I like to spot out new players. I have done it in the past and I will do it with the same spirit to serve Pakistan cricket. I want to strengthen Pakistan cricket by handing over a group of talented players to the national senior team,” he added.
The former batsman said he will be watching the upcoming U16 tournament abroad to unearth new talent as U16 cricket directly relates to U19 cricket. He said it will be his utmost effort to produce five to six talented junior players during his three-year tenure, who are capable enough to fill the void in Pakistan senior team.
He said he will be working on improving players’ technique, batting and fielding besides teaching them the art to play on different types of wickets all over the world. “If players are groomed on solid lines from the beginning, they become quality players at the time of their induction in Pakistan team.
“We have to teach the players to adopt different mindsets while playing different formats of the game. During my three-year tenure, I am keen to groom a strong Pakistan U19 team to produce desired result in U19 World Cup,” Ejaz concluded.