PCB not to panic: Zaka

The Pakistan Cricket Board will not press the panic button after the team’s test series whitewash in South Africa and has no plans to sack captain Misbah-ul-Haq or coach Dav Whatmore, PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf said on Monday.

Ashraf said he wanted to bring consistency and continuity to Pakistan cricket and one way of doing this was to not react harshly after one or two bad series.

“I don’t see any threat to Misbah’s captaincy or Whatmore’s tenure. They have done well with the team in the last one year and we must keep that in mind while assessing the performances in South Africa,” Ashraf said.

Pakistan were whitewashed in the three-test series but won the T20 international and narrowly lost the five match one-day rubber 3-2.

Critics and former players have called for changes and Misbah and Australian Whatmore have come under fire for failing to motivate the team in South Africa.

Misbah, in particular, has been criticized for his slow batting and captaincy.

Ashraf said losing the test series was disappointing but he wanted to give continuity and confidence to the team.

“Whatmore has a two-year contract with us we will assess his performance at the right time. Similarly Misbah rallied the team in the ODI series and led by example,” Ashraf said.

He pointed out that in the past the problem in Pakistan cricket had been to panic early.

“Nowadays cricket is like a science and we need to give confidence to the players and management. We will try to provide them with the best environment and facilities. We then expect them to perform accordingly.”

The PCB chief said the board realised the urgency of having a full-time batting coach attached to the team.

“We are looking into this issue and we have invited applications from interested candidates from abroad and in Pakistan. Hopefully before our next tour we will have made a decision,” he added.

He also made it clear that as long as Misbah is 100 percent fit and committed and was performing himself the board expected him to deliver good results.

“Since he took over as captain he has handled things well and also performed himself. He has again hit good form and his performance in the national T20 super eights cup has been very impressive.”

Misbah, 39, took over as test captain after the spot-fixing scandal hit Pakistan cricket in 2010 and was appointed the limited-overs captain in 2011 after the World Cup.