PCB backs Misbah despite PSL debacle

Monitoring Desk

LAHORE: The Chief Executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Wasim Khan has backed the head coach-cum-chief selector of the national team Misbahul Haq, despite his disastrous run as the head coach of the Islamabad United franchise in the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) season five.

The Islamabad United franchise, which has won the HBL PSL twice since its inception in 2016, finished at the bottom of the points table with seven points after winning just three of their ten matches in the first round of the HBL PSL 5. Khan however backed the struggling coach and expressed confidence in his abilities.

“Since he took over as head coach, we have seen steady progress in the national team’s performances in Tests and T20 cricket,” Khan told the media in Pakistan. “We have full confidence in Misbah even now, but as is our policy, we will sit down and review his one-year performance after the T20 World Cup in Australia in October. We will do a complete post-mortem of his one-year progress, and then reach a conclusion.”

The chief executive claimed that coaching Islamabad United in the HBL PSL 5 was a learning curve for Misbah while stressing that he joined the franchise just a few days before the start of the tournament.

“We have confidence in him and that is we allowed him to coach the Islamabad franchise as we wanted him to gain some experience as well in this position,” said Khan. “You must keep in mind while he is coach of the Pakistan team full-time, he only joined the Islamabad franchise a few days before the PSL. We wanted it to be a learning experience for him as head coach.”