Shoaib Akhtar lashes out at Misbah-ul-Haq for saying the T20I team was in decline before he arrived

[MenInG]

Shoaib Akhtar on PTV Sports:

“People with strong character wouldn’t say such things. They don’t complain, they make decisions. If I was in this position, I would say it’s my mistake and let me fix it. Forget what happened in the past. Now I’m in the job, I will fix it. That’s what he should have said.

“Blaming here and there, this is Misbah’s style maybe but that’s not me. Very simple, he should have said what’s happened has happened and now I will fix it. Misbah needs to give us a chance to support him.

“If he says what I said then I would support him. Saying that the team was going down, this and that, forget this. Be strong and speak strongly. If he speaks strongly, I will be the first person to support him.

“We have to look toward the future and see what decisions the board takes. Will the board keep going in that direction? This isn’t about Misbah, it’s about the policymakers and what they want for the future.”

What Misbah said:

“Regarding T20Is, Pakistan was number 1, but when I came, we had a losing streak. We lost in SA and other places, we lost in England and the team had started going down. Everyone knows why that happened, some of the players like Fakhar, Shadab, Hasan went out of form. They were the main contributors. We are looking to take the guys back to that level. Our performances in England show we are on the right track and improving.”

 

[Mamoon]

Pakistan was bound to struggle in T20s in the 2019-20 period.

We picked up a lot of cheap wins in the 2017-18 period by beating underpowered, disinterested sides who were preparing for the ODI World Cup.

Now with two WT20s on the horizon, teams have started to focus on T20s so it is not surprising to see that we have started to lose again.

Misbah finds himself at the wrong place at the wrong time. However, getting humiliated by Sri Lanka C at home is definitely on his head.

 

[Syed1]

Did Misbah really say that???


Wow the audacity of this shameless leach. We were freaking number one for God's sake!!!!!!

 

[Abdullah719]

This was Pakistan’s recent record before Misbah took over:

 

[Slim]

Pakistan was bound to struggle in T20s in the 2019-20 period.

We picked up a lot of cheap wins in the 2017-18 period by beating underpowered, disinterested sides who were preparing for the ODI World Cup.

Now with two WT20s on the horizon, teams have started to focus on T20s so it is not surprising to see that we have started to lose again.

Misbah finds himself at the wrong place at the wrong time. However, getting humiliated by Sri Lanka C at home is definitely on his head.

Disinterested sides? Are you implying that teams were deliberately losing to Pakistan? What?

 

[topspin]

Disinterested sides? Are you implying that teams were deliberately losing to Pakistan? What?

Disinterested door handles

 

[kingusama92]

Shoaib is right.

I mentioned this in the other thread. The guy speaks like a politician where everything he does has an excuse.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Misbah has exposed himself with this ridiculous statement. Even if we accept the notion that we were not playing full strength teams, we were good enough to dominate second string sides under Mickey.

Misbah's Pakistan got whitewashed by a second string Sri Lanka side. Let that sink in.

Instead of giving feeble excuses, Misbah should own up to the way he has handled his players. Hearing reports of Sarfraz, Haider and Fawad being told just a few hours before the game that they are playing. Is this some gully mohalla team?!

 

[Snowflake]

Not a fan of Shoaib the analyst but 100% with him here. This statement was beyond ridiculous from Misbah. He's become so defensive, even in his statements, lately. Who in the world trashed his own team to protect their own image?

 

[Invincible Gujjar]

Misbah the leech is really shameless guy the worst thing ever happened to Pakistan cricket.Kick him out already.Sharam magar isko Nahi aati.

 

[Major]

Misbah is not the kind of character that bashes his team towards media. So never expect misbah to give statements against his players.

Misbah should had accepted that he was at fault for picking shezad and umar akmal. But it is also true that after losing south africa and england we were bad and he got the team at the wrong time maybe. Shadab was going through a bad patch and batting was weak

 

[Markhor]

Misbah inherited a fine T20 team from Mickey Arthur. Yes there were some flaws, but Misbah came in and immediately disrupted the side by recalling Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad who Mickey made a point of sidelining.

We got Lankawashed and it's been downhill from there.

 

[ahmedzee]

Disinterested sides? Are you implying that teams were deliberately losing to Pakistan? What?

I would not take his words seriously. Its always exactly opposite of what you want to say without any reason or justification. You can say, water is blue and he will come up with "no it is brown". Just enjoy the entertainment as to what extent someone can go against the obvious.

 

[ahmedzee]

Disinterested sides? Are you implying that teams were deliberately losing to Pakistan? What?

Hey, that post can get flagged by all the team's media people as a suggestion that matches were fixed....if I read that correctly.

 

[kingusama92]

Misbah is not the kind of character that bashes his team towards media. So never expect misbah to give statements against his players.

Misbah should had accepted that he was at fault for picking shezad and umar akmal. But it is also true that after losing south africa and england we were bad and he got the team at the wrong time maybe. Shadab was going through a bad patch and batting was weak

No one is asking him to bash the team.

He should accept responsibility for his own failures. Everything he says is an excuse and it sounds lame when the man is both coach and selector.

Up to now, he's blamed the rain, lack of preparation, loss of form, and I'm certain aliens are next on his list.

 

[Rana]

Misbah inherited a fine T20 team from Mickey Arthur. Yes there were some flaws, but Misbah came in and immediately disrupted the side by recalling Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad who Mickey made a point of sidelining.

We got Lankawashed and it's been downhill from there.

Mohammad Irfan’s selection in Australia also. I think Misbah has that old school mentality of Pakistani cricketers who cannot see their mates ageing. Plenty of these uncles around in cricket who think they can play at the highest competitive level at the age of 60.

Absolute wasteman

 

[Hasan]

Not sure what people want. First there was constant bleating about Mike and Sarfraz and now it’s Misbah and Azhar/Babar.

Shoaib may have been a very good bowler but you would be scraping the barrel if you are hoping for him to provide insights into Team administration!

 

[Energy]

Well. The PCB definitely knew what they were getting into when they handed Misbah the two high-profile roles on a platter.

Now if they sack him, it only makes a fool of their own shoddy policies. If they don't, we continue to make a mockery of a mafia-style cricket team we have. Misbah, in one of his statements defended Malik by saying his past scores/averages is good enough for him to continue. Yet, blames other players for not performing/being out of form.

 

[Saj]

They should give Shoaib Akhtar a position in the PCB set-up.

Let's see how long he lasts.

 

[hb787]

They should give Shoaib Akhtar a position in the PCB set-up.

Let's see how long he lasts.

Exactly, he says so much. Lets see what trick he has under his sleeve.

 

[Kroll]

Mohammad Irfan’s selection in Australia also. I think Misbah has that old school mentality of Pakistani cricketers who cannot see their mates ageing. Plenty of these uncles around in cricket who think they can play at the highest competitive level at the age of 60.

Absolute wasteman

Mo Irfan. )))

How could I forget, that was so embarrassing.

If there's any doubt about Misbah picking his old washed up pals without even checking up on them first, then this selection proves it.

 

[Bigboii]

He is right but I am pretty sure he would do the exact opposite of what he is saying (if he is part of the PCB setup)

 

[Colorblind Genius]

They should give Shoaib Akhtar a position in the PCB set-up.

Let's see how long he lasts.

A limited, part time, fast bowling consultant with no power to indulge in any other team matter. I am up for it.
He knows his trait and can ignite the fire in the belly of a pace bowler. He can be better than Waqar.

Again, absolutely no permanent or full time or an admin position.

An occasional limited part time consultant.

He doesn’t have the patience, focus and determination to take on a decision making and permanent role that requires administrative level intelligence, experience and responsibility.

 

[StreetSmart]

Disinterested sides? Are you implying that teams were deliberately losing to Pakistan? What?

Don't worry about what he says, according to him INDIA is invincible and Pakistan always win in a fluke

 

[StreetSmart]

Misbah is the biggest looser, he was a losser in his playing days and he is still a losser with the looser mind set, he clearly have personal likes and dislikes.

 

[hitthestump]

This was Pakistan’s recent record before Misbah took over:

A lot was made of Pakistan's record but truthfully i don't see too many impressive wins here.

No doubt we were a good side but i think our no. 1 ranking was a bit overhyped given the circumstances.

 

[zacattakk]

Mo Irfan. )))

How could I forget, that was so embarrassing.

If there's any doubt about Misbah picking his old washed up pals without even checking up on them first, then this selection proves it.

Imran Khan Senior's completely out of the blue selection for the Australia tour is also up there. The guy must have thought he was dreaming when he got the call.

 

[Buffet]

I had ran filter based on input by fellow poster in different thread.

T-20 W/L with previous coach: 5.0

T-20 W/L with Misbah : 0.5

Difference is like 10 times. Actual difference may not be 10 times after taking account of all factors, but it's too huge.

 

[Kashur_Kalkharab]

He should be questioned about test cricket, sure we are still trying to get our best team on ground. So still have to wait for results. That team though has to have the all time failures in it,that's our best team has to be the same team but until they produce results, don't have to criticize them.
One thing is for sure that if right people are selected for right job, we at least are 25℅ better team than that's playing now.
This looser can be trusted to get his job done until he is not flexible and leave that seniority obsession.

 

[Kashur_Kalkharab]

And until he plays guys who are in form performing at the moment on cricket field and producing results, instead of guys who have to have numbers supporting his age and have had been scoring decades ago. By that criteria Asad goes out of the team, but can't since misbah likes the above two things about him. And he wouldn't let him go even if there are guys scoring 200s on constant basis on field.

 

[sweep_shot]

Ever since Misbah took charge, Pakistan have won 3 T20I games and lost 6 T20I games.

2 of those wins came against Bangladesh.

 

[Sir-fraz]

Ill come back when misbah is fired, i called this before he got the job, this guy is an incompetent man manager.

That fact that he has masters in HR management... let that sink in..

Simple his cricketing IQ is below avg and it shows, glaringly.

 

[topspin]

"I would say it’s my mistake and let me fix it"

Shoaib Akhtar is 100% right with his views on Misbah here, however I also hope he learns to take his own advice.

Reason I say that is because this is the same guy who has continuously vouched for a white ball failure (Asad Shafiq) to be in Pakistan's ODI team.

 

[topspin]

Ill come back when misbah is fired, i called this before he got the job, this guy is an incompetent man manager.

That fact that he has masters in HR management... let that sink in..

Simple his cricketing IQ is below avg and it shows, glaringly.

Makes me wonder where he got his MBA from.

Contrast his cricketing intelligence to Shan Masood's reading of the game. Both are known to be educated, but you could never doubt the qualifications of the latter because he received his degree from Durham university. Can't exactly pay them off. As for Misbah, who knows...

 

[MenInG]

Makes me wonder where he got his MBA from.

Contrast his cricketing intelligence to Shan Masood's reading of the game. Both are known to be educated, but you could never doubt the qualifications of the latter because he received his degree from Durham university. Can't exactly pay them off. As for Misbah, who knows...

Misbah has an MBA degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Management and Technology in Lahore, Punjab.[3]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misbah-ul-Haq

 

[topspin]

Misbah has an MBA degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Management and Technology in Lahore, Punjab.[3]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misbah-ul-Haq

It's a real shame he hasn't been able to utilise the analytical aptitude that he had used towards his MBA. I'm fortunate to have a level 7 qualification as well (CFA) but the bottom line is you'll find numerous posters on here who don't hold a post-grad qualification but can still read the game far better than Misbah.

 

[Slim]

It's a real shame he hasn't been able to utilise the analytical aptitude that he had used towards his MBA. I'm fortunate to have a level 7 qualification as well (CFA) but the bottom line is you'll find numerous posters on here who don't hold a post-grad qualification but can still read the game far better than Misbah.

UMT is a mediocre and so is their MBA - you need to know the quality of education these unis provide esp in the third world. Had he been a MBA from LUMS/IBA then well.

 

[Kroll]

Imran Khan Senior's completely out of the blue selection for the Australia tour is also up there. The guy must have thought he was dreaming when he got the call.

LOL. Have you noticed the pattern here? Brings in Shehzad and Akmal then get dumped, next its Mo Irfan for Australia and then he gets dumped. Also, IK snr, although gets selected for Eng - its only as a net bowler.

So as much as he would still like to play the above, he knows he might be pushing it with the inevitable backlash. Doesn't want any risk as far as enjoying his heft paycheck is concerned.

So much time wasting its unreal. I mean is this guy really our chief selector? Coz he certainly doesn't seem to have a clue.

 

[topspin]

UMT is a mediocre and so is their MBA - you need to know the quality of education these unis provide esp in the third world. Had he been a MBA from LUMS/IBA then well.

Doesn't surprise me one bit. Thanks for the info.

 

[MMHS]

Whatever he can say, but it'll be really, really difficult to justify that 0-3 against SRL. Yes, under Arthur the team raised to ranking tables playing lots of soft games, but their strength was there - crashing inferior opponents ruthlessly. I am sure wherever PAK can go down, Arthur's T20 team would have crashed that SRL side at least 2-1. Misbah can be workable for the Test side, but I believe it's high time that PCB actively thinks about a different coaching set-up for LO cricket - Misbah, backed by WY is a recipe of disaster in LO cricket; even their thought process is behind their playing days.

 

[ahmedzee]

I had ran filter based on input by fellow poster in different thread.

T-20 W/L with previous coach: 5.0

T-20 W/L with Misbah : 0.5

Difference is like 10 times. Actual difference may not be 10 times after taking account of all factors, but it's too huge.

Thanks Buffet for that. That was my request and presents the mess Pakistan cricket is in right now

 

[ahmedzee]

Whatever he can say, but it'll be really, really difficult to justify that 0-3 against SRL. Yes, under Arthur the team raised to ranking tables playing lots of soft games, but their strength was there - crashing inferior opponents ruthlessly. I am sure wherever PAK can go down, Arthur's T20 team would have crashed that SRL side at least 2-1. Misbah can be workable for the Test side, but I believe it's high time that PCB actively thinks about a different coaching set-up for LO cricket - Misbah, backed by WY is a recipe of disaster in LO cricket; even their thought process is behind their playing days.

This is Waqar's 4th time in the coaching set up. All the times when he coached before Pakistan cricket regressed. Add Misbah in the mix and it would regress further.

 

[topspin]

Whatever he can say, but it'll be really, really difficult to justify that 0-3 against SRL. Yes, under Arthur the team raised to ranking tables playing lots of soft games, but their strength was there - crashing inferior opponents ruthlessly. I am sure wherever PAK can go down, Arthur's T20 team would have crashed that SRL side at least 2-1. Misbah can be workable for the Test side, but I believe it's high time that PCB actively thinks about a different coaching set-up for LO cricket - Misbah, backed by WY is a recipe of disaster in LO cricket; even their thought process is behind their playing days.

Precisely. Arthur's team actually whitewashed a full strength Sri Lanka side 3-0 in UAE.

 

[Slim]

Its good to see the shameless Misbah getting phenta - i want to see the faces of those few who celebrated the return of the axis of incompetence.

 

[ExplicitAI]

Pakistan was bound to struggle in T20s in the 2019-20 period.

We picked up a lot of cheap wins in the 2017-18 period by beating underpowered, disinterested sides who were preparing for the ODI World Cup.

Now with two WT20s on the horizon, teams have started to focus on T20s so it is not surprising to see that we have started to lose again.

Misbah finds himself at the wrong place at the wrong time. However, getting humiliated by Sri Lanka C at home is definitely on his head.

Whilst a lot of your posts are realistic about Pak cricket in general, I'd have to disagree with this one when it comes to our T20 history under Sarfraz. The players that debuted during that time came in with a bang and we were a T20 juggernaut who was winning games left-right and centre; our worst period was when Afridi captained the side for his second tenure. Foreign coaches also bring the best out of Asian sides, that's why India won the 2011 WC, Pak winning the 2017 CT etc. I've always felt down about our ODI team ever since growing up but during this period for our T20 cricket I felt super confident against a lot of other teams to the point where I didn't think they had a chance. There's a bit of a downfall in the T20 team right now which is a bit unfortunate.

 

[Junaids]

UMT is a mediocre and so is their MBA - you need to know the quality of education these unis provide esp in the third world. Had he been a MBA from LUMS/IBA then well.

That's actually being too kind.

UMT is well and truly in the "international joke" category of universities.

It is ranked in the band 801-1000th best university in the world.

Australia's worst university is the University of the Sunshine Coast - in band 601-800.

New Zealand's worst university is in band 501-600 best in the world.

The UK has 100 universities - and the worst 6 are in the same band as Misbah's university.

No wonder Misbah is capable of analytical thought. He went to a university which is basically an academic sham.

 

[Mamoon]

Whilst a lot of your posts are realistic about Pak cricket in general, I'd have to disagree with this one when it comes to our T20 history under Sarfraz. The players that debuted during that time came in with a bang and we were a T20 juggernaut who was winning games left-right and centre; our worst period was when Afridi captained the side for his second tenure. Foreign coaches also bring the best out of Asian sides, that's why India won the 2011 WC, Pak winning the 2017 CT etc. I've always felt down about our ODI team ever since growing up but during this period for our T20 cricket I felt super confident against a lot of other teams to the point where I didn't think they had a chance. There's a bit of a downfall in the T20 team right now which is a bit unfortunate.

The Sarfraz-Mickey combo was very effective in T20 cricket against weakened opposition. There is no doubt that they wouldn’t have been whitewashed by Sri Lanka C the way the Sarfraz-Misbah combo did last year.

However, the team was by no means a so-called juggernaut. The rankings and the overall results did not paint an accurate picture of where we stood as a T20 side. During the 2016-2018 period, at no point was Pakistan the best T20 side in the world.

If there was a WT20 in that period we wouldn’t have won, and the so-called invincible side would have had their pants pulled down by India if we were to face them in a series. It would have been as brutal a reality check as the 2018 Asia Cup.

Even England would have smashed us over the course of a series. We did beat them in 2016 but that was a one-off match only, with them losing steam after bashing us in the ODI series.

If Pakistan would have played 10 T20s against full-strength India and England in 2017-18, I guarantee you that Pakistan would have lost at least 8 out of the 10 T20s.

Moreover, the comparison between Kirsten and Mickey is not valid. Kirsten took over and drilled a side that was the strongest in Asia and had the best captain in the world. India were always overwhelming favorites for the 2011 World Cup because they were the best side in those conditions.

The World Cup win came 3 years after his appointment and then left after winning the World Cup. Basically he took on a bunch of top players and gave them an environment where they could play to their optimum level, something that wasn’t happening under G. Chappell.

On the other hand, Mickey got lucky with the Champions Trophy early in his career but the real test of his coaching was the 2019 World Cup and he failed with flying colors.

Pakistan lost 21 out of 25 ODIs, including a 12 match losing streak, going into the World Cup and then finished 5 among 10 teams. A World Cup campaign that basically ended after the first match when West Indies destroyed our NRR.

Mickey had as much of a part in the Champions Trophy success as Intikhab did in winning the 1992 World Cup and the 2009 WT20.

He was an extremely ineffective coach for Pakistan and letting him go was the correct decision.

 

[ExplicitAI]

The Sarfraz-Mickey combo was very effective in T20 cricket against weakened opposition. There is no doubt that they wouldn’t have been whitewashed by Sri Lanka C the way the Sarfraz-Misbah combo did last year.

However, the team was by no means a so-called juggernaut. The rankings and the overall results did not paint an accurate picture of where we stood as a T20 side. During the 2016-2018 period, at no point was Pakistan the best T20 side in the world.

If there was a WT20 in that period we wouldn’t have won, and the so-called invincible side would have had their pants pulled down by India if we were to face them in a series. It would have been as brutal a reality check as the 2018 Asia Cup.

Even England would have smashed us over the course of a series. We did beat them in 2016 but that was a one-off match only, with them losing steam after bashing us in the ODI series.

If Pakistan would have played 10 T20s against full-strength India and England in 2017-18, I guarantee you that Pakistan would have lost at least 8 out of the 10 T20s.

Moreover, the comparison between Kirsten and Mickey is not valid. Kirsten took over and drilled a side that was the strongest in Asia and had the best captain in the world. India were always overwhelming favorites for the 2011 World Cup because they were the best side in those conditions.

The World Cup win came 3 years after his appointment and then left after winning the World Cup. Basically he took on a bunch of top players and gave them an environment where they could play to their optimum level, something that wasn’t happening under G. Chappell.

On the other hand, Mickey got lucky with the Champions Trophy early in his career but the real test of his coaching was the 2019 World Cup and he failed with flying colors.

Pakistan lost 21 out of 25 ODIs, including a 12 match losing streak, going into the World Cup and then finished 5 among 10 teams. A World Cup campaign that basically ended after the first match when West Indies destroyed our NRR.

Mickey had as much of a part in the Champions Trophy success as Intikhab did in winning the 1992 World Cup and the 2009 WT20.

He was an extremely ineffective coach for Pakistan and letting him go was the correct decision.

To be fair with you, I don't think England was a depleted side when we played them in that one off T20, they were really up for it and we would of lost if we had the same team when Afridi captained the T20 side for his second stint. We went in with the likes of Khalid Latif who somehow managed to decimate the bowling but he is nowhere near good (except for that 200 he scored in a List A game). Sarfraz was the right choice for Mickey's brand of attacking cricket since he had the modern mindset to lead a side in today's game, however he has a typical desi mindset in which once he's achieved something, he'll end up having a tournament win hangover and would start to make stereotypes about other teams which would eventually lead to his downfall; the likes of Morgan would do the opposite and will still go with a winning mentality after the 2019 WC win. I do believe that India was the strongest T20 team we'd face (if we hypothetically consider an exhibition game) under Sarfraz along with Aus, but I don't think we'd lose 8 out of 10 games against them unless they were ODI's. If we played a T20 series against India before that 2017 CT victory, I'd think we'd be breathing down their necks for a series win whereas a T20 WC victory would have been very unlikely as we have seen before in the past. In other words, both teams would neck-in-neck to win a series trophy.

The point I was making about Kirsten and Mickey is that they are foreign coaches and can bring the best out of sides due to their unbiased choices, they are not going to pick certain players because they're Jatt, Rajput, Sindhi etc. They'll observe stats, fitness, suiting the brand of cricket and recent performances. Mickey made the right choice with the top 3 we went with in the 2019 WC (stats and preparation) but unfortunately it didn't work out. The next step after his sacking should have been to appoint a new foreign coach instead of a local one as we have seen how things badly work out for us when we appoint one, fitness levels sharply decrease and we would be unable to win a series against India, Aus, Eng, SA and NZ. However I don't think Mickey got lucky with that CT win, again he was unbiased and brought the best out of his squad by having an effective plan before going into each game and targeted the weaknesses of opponents. That trophy win however didn't do us justice going forward. Once you win a trophy, you move on just like how football teams do when they win a Premier League, Champions League or FA Cup; you celebrate for the night and look ahead to the next schedule.

 

[b.lesner]

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