Misbah ul Haq, Waqar Younis Favourites To Be Next Pakistan Head And Bowling Coach

Pakistan cricket is currently under the midst of big structural changes following the end of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Under Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pakistan failed to qualify for the knock-out stages as they finished fifth in the points table. The Pakistan Cricket Board appointed a five-member panel to interview prospective candidates for the team management positions had nearly concluded its work. According to sources within the Board, the panel headed by former captain Intikhab Alam and which also included PCB CEO Wasim Khan, had interviewed most candidates including Misbah ul Haq, Waqar Younis, Dean Jones, Johan Botha, Courtney Walsh, Yasir Arafat and some others in the last two days directly or on the video link.

It has now emerged that Misbah ul Haq is the frontrunner for becoming the head coach of the Pakistan team while Waqar Younis could handle the bowling department. In addition, Mohsin Khan could become the chief selector. 

A PCB source said, "They will now have deliberations on finalizing their recommendations and it appears as if Misbah is a favourite to be named head coach with Waqar as the bowling coach. Mohsin who has remained a chief selector and interim head coach in the past was invited by the board to give an interview to the panel which indicates he will be given some major responsibility next week."

In an interview a couple of years ago on the sidelines of the Pakistan Super League in 2017, Misbah had revealed that he feared Pakistan would be losing passion and interest. Misbah felt the youth were no longer attracted by the sport. However, with the successful conduct of the ICC World XI series, Pakistan harbored hopes of Test cricket being played on home soil eventually and that would encourage youngsters to start thinking about making a career in cricket.

“In the last couple of years, passion in Pakistan cricket was dying. Youngsters were playing cricket and trying to become international cricketers. I think once international cricket is here, you are just watching every game and Test matches with top stars in the world, live… that is something which obviously attracts youngsters to start thinking about cricket again," Misbah said.

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HIGHLIGHTS

• Misbah ul Haq retired from international cricket in 2017.
• Misbah retired from ODIs after 2015 World Cup.
• Pakistan did not qualify for the 2019 World Cup knockouts.