This “Naya PCB” has been a joke from the word go.
(1) Mani was the wrong choice for the chairman role. He is an old man who doesn’t have any energy or passion for this position. There is no difference between him and Shahryar Khan.
(2) Mani then proceeds to invent a new position in the PCB hierarchy because he has no confidence in his abilities.
(3) the new position has gone to an incompetent administrator who sold himself with the “I left ECB to help Pakistan cricket because I am a patriot” drama.
Apparently he was in line to be the ECB Chief. If that were true, I congratulate the ECB for dodging a bullet.
(4) he reformed the domestic setup based on the structure provided by the PM. He had no real input in the process.
(5) he formed a committee to decide Mickey’s future, and thought it was sensible to have a potential replacement on the committee.
I don’t want to accuse Misbah of bias, but it is not humanly possible to be impartial when you are yourself eager for that job.
(5) he then proceeded to appoint Misbah as a dual coach and selector, even though he has zero prior experience in either role.
The entire selection process was a complete farce and reeked of unprofessionalism. The job advertisement was clearly designed to discourage foreign applicants, and Misbah was handed over the job without due process.
It is not a coincidence that rumors of Misbah’s appointment emerged before the job advertisement. People complain that Misbah was appointed because there were no other impressive applicants.
I would argue that most of them didn’t apply because it was obvious that Misbah had the job already, and they could see through PCB’s act.
A dual coach and selector position is very attractive and I am sure that in spite of PCB’s reputation as an employer, a lot of coaches would have applied if PCB didn’t act so unprofessionally.
(6) the contract handed over to Misbah is clearly designed to protect his interests and not PCB’s. If things go south which is already happening, the PCB has to pay him a fortunate to send him home. This is another example of the unbelievable incompetence of Wasim.
(7) if all of this wasn’t enough, PCB outdid itself by forcing negotiating with IU to remove Dean Jones and replace him with Misbah, because the gentleman wants a slice of the PSL pie as well.
PCB has been a circus under this new regime and the following people need to be held responsible for creating this mess:
Imran “PM should not interfere in PCB unless I am the PM” Khan,
Ehsan Mani,
And of course the legend himself, Mr. I left ECB to help Pakistan cricket because I am a patriot.
1) Mani was the right choice because of his experience, which is incredibly important considering he spent time with the ICC. Mani and Speed brought in T20I cricket (against stiff opposition) to a grand stage at the international level, which is now raking in money. There was nothing wrong in bringing him onboard and he essentially ran laps around the other choices in terms of merit.
2) Nothing wrong with developing a separate leadership position to dilute power. This is generally seen in successful organizations. Funny thing is, that's exactly what the criticism is with Misbah's appointment. His power isn't diluted. The only time a separate leadership position goes pear-shaped is if the new hiring is nepotistic, which isn't the case here.
3) Wasim Khan has a wonderful resume and was well-qualified for the position. If he's incompetent then pretty much anyone else would have been incompetent too.
4) The new structure is still a huge positive. Nothing wrong with it and the matches are far more competitive now. The only ones whinging are the ones who were getting free money and roster spots for performing poorly.
5) I agree with this. Almost all of the issues associated with the PCB are related to Misbah's appointment. And yes, it starts with the conflict of interest, which was absolutely bizarre.
The dual coach+selector position was smart (and still is) if they had included an experienced coach who could implement his vision. Once again, all of their problems started by including Misbah and that's a mistake they're going to regret for a while.
6) Most coaches receive those contracts. It's quite common in North American/European sports too.
7) The reason Wasim Khan gave before was they need Misbah to gain experience. I agree this is a silly move and once again stems from the mistake of hiring Misbah.
They have done a lot of good work but this Misbah hiring has and will hurt them. I would recommend Mani and Wasim Khan to dilute Misbah's power and hire a separate selector. It's the only way to handle the situation they find themselves in because firing him won't happen nor does it help when looking to hire a replacement.
