Favourite Misbah finally applies for head coach position

KARACHI: Unofficially, Misbah-ul-Haq had been the favourite to succeed Mickey Arthur soon after Pakistan decided against retaining the South African as the head coach in the aftermath of a disappointing World Cup campaign.

On Monday, the former Pakistan Test captain made it official by announcing that he has applied for the coveted the job. Misbah, who pushed for Arthur’s ouster as member of Pakistan Cricket Board’s Cricket Committee, said in a statement that “it is everyone’s dream to coach Pakistan cricket team.”

The 45-year-old Misbah, who played the last of his 75 Tests for Pakistan in the summer of 2017, stepped down from the influential PCB Cricket Committee after applying for the position of head coach.

Even though Misbah’s name had grabbed the headlines as Arthur’s successor for days, he stressed that it was only on Monday that he decided to apply for the job. “It has been interesting to see my name being mentioned as a future head coach of the Pakistan cricket team, but the fact is I only made the decision today,” said Misbah, who is currently supervising Pakistan’s training camp in Lahore.

“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.

“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,” said Misbah, who met Zakir Khan, PCB’s (Director International Cricket), on Monday afternoon and informed him of his decision, following which he formally applied for the head coach’s role.

The Board had been seeking applications to rebuild their coaching staff after having brought to an end the tenure of Arthur and his staff earlier this month. The deadline for submitting applications concluded on Monday, with the PCB seeking someone someone who was at least a Level 2 coach “with relevant experience for at least three years” with elite cricketers. It is notable Misbah does not have three years of coaching experience - indeed, he retired less than three years ago - but with him being the only one to formally make his interest public, he is the undisputed favourite to win the role.

PCB advertised for the head coach’s role on August 9, with the last date for applications being August 26. The Board 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. —with inputs from agencies