PSL to help finalise squads for Asia Cup, World T20: Misbah

KARACHI: Pakistan’s head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq has told the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Cricket Committee that he has developed a pool of players and the HBL PSL 2020 will help him finalise squads for this year’s Asia Cup and the ICC Men’s T20 World Championships.

Misbah informed the committee that he had developed a nucleus of players, especially for T20 cricket, the PCB said in a press release.

The PCB cricket committee held its first meeting of 2020 under the chairmanship of former Test spinner Iqbal Qasim. Wasim Akram, Umar Gul, Urooj Mumtaz, Ali Naqvi, Wasim Khan and Zakir Khan attended the session.

Misbah and Haroon Rashid, Director Domestic Cricket Ooperations, attended the meeting on special invitations, the Board said.

The cricket committee recommended that the PCB should explore a window in 2020-21 domestic cricket to slot in a tournament for the departments. Haroon was asked to look into the potential window in the next season and update the committee at the next meeting, which is expected in April.

Haroon said the PCB has hosted 12 tournaments, comprising 190 matches, in the current season. His presentation included details about quality of practice facilities, food provision for players, player remunerations and standard of wickets. The committee requested that updates on the areas for improvement be provided at the next meeting.

The cricket committee said that the quality of cricket this season had vastly improved. There was a discussion on the appointment of the six Cricket Association coaches and the process that will be adopted for analysing and assessing their performance. It was agreed that further investment in developing the knowledge, skills and capabilities of the elite coaches was needed in order to adopt more modern practices.

PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan told the committee that a more thorough No Objection Certificate (NOC) policy for players had been developed. The committee supported the revised NOC policy, while emphasising that the PCB fully and strictly follow it to ensure that Pakistan’s elite cricketers give precedence to domestic tournaments above all else.

Urooj Mumtaz, who is head of women’s wing and chair of the national women’s selection committee, provided an overview and update on the progress of women’s cricket in the past 12 months. She informed the committee about the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which will be held from February 21 to March 8. Pakistan will play their opening match against the West Indies on February 26 in Canberra.

Urooj briefed the committee on the ICC’s decision to introduce the ICC Women’s U19 Cricket World Cup, which will help in identifying and developing young talent and nurturing them into word-class cricketers. The committee said more work was needed to further promote and develop women’s cricket.