My central argument is that Wasim Khan is incompetent, and I don’t need to look beyond how (a) he allowed Misbah to be on the panel that decided Arthur’s future and (b) handed the job to Misbah on a platter before advertising the role and (c) handed over the job to Misbah who literally has zero prior experience in either capacity.
You cannot come up with better examples of incompetence and sheer lack of professionalism. These are not the actions of a half sensible man; these are the action of a con-man.
- Wasim Khan quickly managed to land a job in the PCB with the “I want to leave England to help Pakistan cricket” drama.
We are told that he was set to become the next ECB Chief. I saw England dodged a bullet because he would probably have turned a world champion side into Ireland.
- He was handed the so-called reformed domestic structure by Imran Khan himself, and all he did was implement a ready-made structure.
There are no guarantees that the structure will even work for Pakistan. It appears that we have copy pasted Shield cricket without thinking it through.
As PM, Imran has ruined everything so I won’t be surprised if he has even managed to make our cricket even worse.
- He allowed Misbah to decide the future of Arthur even though Misbah was in contention to replace him as coach.
A terrible decision that exposed the incompetency and unprofessionalism of Mr. “I left England to help Pakistan cricket”.
- The job description for the coach/selector position was clearly designed to discourage foreign applicants. In fact, the job was already handed over to Misbah and the advertisement was only for show.
That is why no serious candidate applied even though a dual coach/selector role is very attractive, in spite of PCB’s reputation as an employer. Coaches could see through the facade.
- the appointment of Misbah itself was a joke. He was given the responsibility of a coach and a selector with literally zero prior experience. Is this the professionalism Mr. “I left England to help Pakistan cricket” learned during his time with the ECB?
- as far as his famed “negation skills” are concerned that people will sing songs and write poems about, he is only capitalizing on the work done by Sethi and Shahryar Khan.
They were the ones, especially Sethi, who set the ball rolling and opened the door for international cricket to return to Pakistan. Wasim wouldn’t have been able to convince teams if we wouldn’t have successfully hosted a few matches every year from 2015 onwards.
He should not have accepted this nonsense of breaking up a 2 Test series over a period of 3 months. This is a cricket tour not a circus. PCB should not tolerate such disrespect if they have an ounce of dignity.
Getting carted around by another board and getting this ridiculous schedule is not called good negotiating skills.
Unfortunately, Pakistan cricket has reached a point where it takes absolutely nothing for the fans to get excited.
So far, I would give Wasim Khan only 3/10 and I don’t see what he has brought to the table with all his so-called ECB experience.
The question with the Misbah appointment isn't so much of what Misbah can produce - he may end up being the greatest selector / coach in the history of cricket and help Pak win multiple World Cups. The question will still be, why was someone with almost no experience appointed to not one but two of the most critical positions in Pakistan cricket.
Outside of that hugely significant decision, Wasim has been fantastic. But his fate will always be tied to the Misbah decision
Sorry to be intrusive; but lets look at it objectively and take into consideration two human traits, that are, living by principles and living with honesty.
And we will quickly notice, that Wasim Khan MAY get a benefit of the doubt since he may not have been as close to Pakistan cricket (as many of us do here), to form a more solid knowledge base about Misbah and Waqar's long history with Pak cricket.
Wasim Khan came with some ideas and in the eyes of many (including myself) showed a borderline incompetence when he gave Misbah the dual role, and shoved Waqar into the mix.
Putting Misbah on the helm may also not be a 100% of a decision of his own. Misbah may have a fan or two in the higher ups of the PCB administration. And then politics ALWAYS plays a role behind the doors in PCB.
This was the objective part.
Now lets look at the principles and honesty part which I think trumps objectivity. And this is where my opinion comes in.
The question perhaps is not whether Wasim Khan is incompetent or not? The question is: Why did Misbah apply for these positions, to being with, when he fully knew that he does not meet the advertised criteria of any of these two jobs? Deep inside in Misbah's heart, he was 100% aware that he was unqualified for both positions.
It's like a pharmacist applying for the positions of a physician and an Engineer.
How honest is Misbah with Pakistan cricket and how selfless is he when "supposedly" he enforced the clause in the contract where he will still get paid with this VERY HEFTY SALARY for 3 years even if he gets fired on day one?
Does he REALLY care about Pak cricket?
The country has given him enough. Fame, money, facilities, perks etc. Is he going to give anything back to the country, by perhaps, working on volunteer basis? lol, perhaps not even in a million years.
IMO, Misbah should've showed some selflessness and should've worked with PCB in his existing role of the cricket committee member (where he was getting paid for his services) to find well qualified professionals for those two open positions, to begin with.
So if we focus on how Misbah foxed his way to land on the dual role and give some benefit of the doubt to Wasim Khan, then I think Wasim Khan's achievements easily outweigh the appointment of Misbah. Which again, could not be a straight forward simple decision that he may have solely taken on his own.
Wasim Khan also seems little more stricter than Mr. Mani who looks very, very soft of an administrator.
I have a feeling that Wasim Khan would not be scared to fire Misbah if Misbah does not perform as promised. Which I think is a fair deal (sorry Misbah fans because, we are talking about principles and honesty).
In a wide spectrum of incompetence that has spread all over in the PCB's administration, I think Wasim Khan could be an exception.
I will give him at least one more year before evaluating him.
And frankly speaking, since Misbah is here, lets deal with it.
We can look back and keep wasting our time and energies criticizing him or we can look forward and try to make the best with what we have at hands.
