AP, Islamabad :
The newly elected chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board thinks the national team may have too many coaches, but backed captain Misbah-ul-Haq and head coach Waqar Younis.
Former foreign secretary Shaharyar Khan was elected as chairman by the PCB’s governing board on Monday, and immediately saw Sri Lanka defeat Pakistan 2-0 in a test series.
“It’s not a disaster, it’s a setback,” Khan reacted to the defeat in Sri Lanka soon after taking charge at the PCB headquarters in Lahore. “Remember Sri Lanka had won the Asia Cup and they also won against England in England so it’s not shameful to lose against them.”
Khan ran unopposed and was elected unanimously by the PCB’s board of governors.
It will be the 80-year-old Khan’s second stint as PCB chairman. His previous three-year tenure ended in 2006 when Pakistan forfeited a test match against England under then captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court had directed the government to hold fresh elections earlier this month after previous chairmen Najam Sethi and Zaka Ashraf were involved in various court cases since May 2013.
The PCB overhauled Pakistan’s coaching staff soon after it failed to defend its Asia Cup title and didn’t make the semifinals of World Twenty20 earlier this year. Khan said there may be too many people on the staff now.
“We have a heavy coaching staff, bowling coach, batting coach, spin coach … then why do we have a chief coach?” Khan said. “We will see whether it’s like ‘too many cooks spoil the broth.'”
Former chairman Najam Sethi appointed Misbah as captain until the 2015 World Cup and Khan said he saw no reason to replace him.
“In my personal opinion Misbah should be retained as captain,” Khan said. “Tomorrow I will send him the message that ‘you will be the captain.'”
Former captain Mohammad Yousuf had demanded that Misbah should be removed due to his defensive mindset and defensive batting.
“Continuity is very important, you can’t find a perfect captain,” Khan said. “There was lot of criticism when we made Inzamam captain like he can’t run, he’s too slow, but we didn’t change him and he proved to be a good captain.”
Pakistan has not hosted any test-playing country for more than five years because of security fears after terrorists attacked the Sri Lanka team bus.
Khan said he didn’t foresee any big team touring Pakistan in the near future, but that youth teams may start coming there soon.
“If senior teams can’t come, maybe under-19 and A teams from big countries could come,” he said. “I think we will try to open the doors slowly.”
