LAHORE-Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq clarifies that he isn’t looking far ahead rather taking it series to series saying the decision of extension lies solely with the PCB.
Addressing a virtual press conference here on Thursday, Misbah, whose three-year coaching contract will expire just before the T20 World Cup in India later in the year, said: “I always say that one can’t plan so ahead. As far as my coaching is concerned, I take it series to series. When the time comes, it is the PCB to decide what is best for Pakistan cricket.”
The head coach said that it would be challenging to play the ODI series without any practice game. “We have less time to acclimatize to the conditions in South Africa but I am confident that we will do well against the hosts and produce good results during the series,” he said.
About the selection of tainted players in the national team, Misbah said the selectors and team management are on the same page on selection matters, making it clear that he doesn’t want to dwell on tainted T20 opener Sharjeel Khan’s selection in Pakistan team for South Africa tour. “I had to say this is a Pakistan team because such things appear in the media and an impression is created that there is conflict among team management and selectors over selection matters. But I say everything is done with consensus,” he said.
He said there is no law in the country that stops tainted cricketers from making a return to the national team. “I don’t know why Muhammad Asif or Salman Butt were not selected after completing their bans but what I know is that until there is a law that bars us from selecting a player after he has served any ban, we can’t keep anyone out,” he added.
The head coach said Sharjeel has been selected because of his form and he has been told that he has time before the T20 series in South Africa to achieve his fitness. “Sharjeel has to work hard and meet the required fitness standards of the team. He has to reach a certain level where there are no compromises. We will see how he progresses and improves his fitness without damaging his skill levels.
“We have had a detailed discussion on the fitness issue and we are trying to simplify the process for players by introducing parameters for players on which there will be no compromise. We are giving targets to players depending on their requirements. We are not reducing the fitness benchmarks of the team. We are trying to relate it to match and ground fitness. It is not that we will reduce the benchmark of Yoyo tests from 18 to 15 marks,” he added.
He said no players, including seniors, have been written off and they will be considered for future selection. “It is all a matter of who is in form. We can consider any player at any time, who is in form. No player has been written off.”
About postponement of the PSL-6, the head coach said that it had allowed players to have a break and the training camp was also short. “We had some concerns that if the PSL had been completed on schedule, we would have left immediately for South Africa remaining in the bio-secure bubble for such a long time. But now this break has been welcomed and I think our players are mentally very strong in these circumstances and the team bonding is very good.”
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