Buck stops with Misbah-ul-Haq
THE second Test got under way yesterday in Adelaide and Pakistan continues to confuse the cricket world with its bizarre decision making.
How on earth did they not play their best bowler Mohammad Abbas in Brisbane? It defied all logic.
His overall Test record is outstanding. More importantly, he troubled and dismissed many of our best batsmen in the most recent series played in the UAE, where he took 17 wickets in two Tests.
His omission in Brisbane was ridiculous, but perhaps an insight into how the unpredictable Pakistan team operates.
Pakistan has a history of plucking very young fast bowlers with minimal experience.
Two of the greatest of all time — Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis — are two living examples of this policy. Let’s hope 16year-old Naseem Shah develops into a great of the game.
He has raw pace and a nice fluent action. He has Waqar on his shoulder as fast-bowling coach to guide him in his early days.
It was a brave move to play him upfront and leave Abbas on the sidelines in the opening Test.
The use of the young man within the Test after his inclusion was equally as mystifying.
The recent decision to part ways with successful coach Micky Arthur after a failed World Cup campaign was somewhat controversial and left him disillusioned and very disappointed.
Arthur had invested heavily in his role, moving his life from
Perth to Lahore and, with that, came some very difficult personal times as far as family is concerned.
The PCB recently conducted a full review of the high performance department and the outcome saw significant change.
The awkward part of the process was the fact that former highly respected captain, Misbah-ulHaq, was one of the people charged with the responsibility of the review.
In the wash-up, Misbah was then appointed head coach and interestingly also chairman of selectors. He basically has all the control of the direction of Pakistan cricket.
It is a bold move and one that will come with enormous scrutiny on the world stage.
If the decision comes without team success, it will be fiercely and passionately debated back home in Pakistan.
The first big move Misbah made was to remove long-serving captain and wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed from all formats.
This obviously shook the team significantly as he was such a strong leader and vocal driver of standards.
He at times was seen by some of his detractors as over-demonstrative on the field, but that’s exactly what Pakistan needs as they regularly slip into comfort-zone mode.
Their fielding is a reflection of their attitude and relaxed demeanour. They can be simply horrible at times in the field and this has always been their achilles heel.
Former Australian wicketkeeper Steve Rixon — for a period of time alongside Arthur — was the fielding coach and through sheer hard work lifted the fielding standards.
But in recent times, they have fallen back into the same old Pakistan.
I was lucky enough to work closely with Misbah in recent years at Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League and can only vouch for his character and integrity.
He is a proud and passionate Pakistani and will do everything possible to ensure success.
The question remains: has he taken on too much responsibility? How long his tenure lasts will be interesting to monitor.
He will certainly need his trusted ally, Waqar Younis, right by his side to avoid any splinters in the expected tough times ahead.
Misbah is a shrewd operator but rather conservative in his thinking, which is in contrast to his predecessor Arthur.
Players will take time to adjust to the new hierarchy and philosophy. They will undoubtedly suffer some short-term pain, which we are seeing first-hand right now on our TV screens.
Misbah is raw as a coach. He has never been in any coaching role prior to his ascension to national coach. This is a real danger in any format of cricket, let alone on the international stage.
To add to his national duties, it is expected he will be announced as the new coach of Islamabad United for PSL5, to be staged in February.
This has caused plenty of angst among some of the other franchises. Imagine Justin Langer still coaching the Perth Scorchers while being national coach?
That said, George Bailey — our newly appointed selector — is still playing for the Hobart Hurricanes in this year’s Big Bash campaign.
Maybe times are changing.