PCB chief backs Misbah

Pakistans cricket chief on Wednesday backed MisbahulHaq as oneday captain saying he would lead the side to next years World Cup.

Chief selector Moin Khan on Tuesday hinted at a possible change of oneday captain, saying discussions were in progress and if there was a consensus, a change could be made.But Pakistan Cricket Board PCB chairman Najam Sethi gave his support to Misbah, who has led the side in 71 onday internationals since taking over in May 2011, winning 39 of them.stand by my decision to retain Misbah as captain until the World Cup Sethi told AFP.stralia and New Zealand coh
An orthodox batsman with reasonable technique, Misbah caught the eye with his unflappable temperament in the tri-ny tornaent in Nairobi in 2002, scoring two fifties in three innings, including one in the final against Australia. But before Pakistan could hail him as a possible middleorder mainstay, Misbah's form slumped - he didn't manage a single 20-plus score in three Tests against Australia and was duly dumped. Pakistan's abysmal World Cup campaignnd the wholesale changes to the team in its aftermathgave Misbah another chance to redeem himself, but he did little of note in the limited opportunities he got.
Even though Misbah had not represented Pakistan for about threeears, a run-filled domestic season, followed by club cricket in England, and Inzamam's retirement from ODIs prompted the board to award Misbah a central contract in July 2007. A month later, he was surprisingly picked, ahead ofMohammad Yousuf, for the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. He repaid the selectors' faith by finishing the tounament as Pakistan's best player and nearly taking them to victory in the final. He was duly named in the team for te Test and ODIseries that followed against South Africa.nth, has long faced criticism for his defensive approach as a leader, despite leading Pakistan to seven onay series wins last yeara record for the country in a 12month period.
He is also Pakistan's Test captain, having led them in 27 Tes with 12 wins, seven defeats and eight draws.Whatever the personal views of any of the selectors regarding who should be the captain, I am firm on my decision said Sethi.bah has performed very well in both one-dayers and Tests and is one of the fittest players in the team," said Sethi of Misbah, who scored 1373runs in 2013the most in the world

SHANE unlikely to reconsider

Bangladesh coach Shane Jurgensen is in no mood to reverse his decision, according to sources close to the Australian. Jurgensen, who sent the board his resignation letter on Monday, may at most stay till the India series in June.
The board is yet to accept his resignation and are likely to try to negotiate with the coach, who is contracted till the 2015 World Cup. Jurgensen, who arrives in Dhaka today, is expected to have a series of meetings with the board regarding his future.
His main reason behind his resignation, as put in to thboard, was that he was unhappy about the comments made by some of the directors. The folowing day BCB directors Jalal Yunus and Akram Khan termed the decision an 'motioal' one and said that the comments made by the directors were unofficial, before asserting that they had never planned to remove Jurgensen from his post.
As unexpected as Jurgense's decision may be, one cannot help but question the motives of the directors who made those comments in the first place. In a T20 league-dominated era, coaches are hard to find and with a 50-over World Cup just over nine months away, making such statements to the edia is a move fraught with danger Jurgensen may have had a bad run this year, with a string of defeats to i Lanka and a horrible World Twenty20 campaign. However, Bangladesh achieved certain crucial landmarks under him. Defeating the West Indies at home, putting up a stellar performance in Sri Lanka, winning their fourth ever Test in Zimbbwe and then whitewashing New Zealandfor the second time in a row; these performances speak for themselves. If a board directorreckons that three months of poor results can outweigh a year and a quarter's worth of growth in ODIs and Tests, then no coach will survive in Bangladesh
Making empty promises has been an old habit of the board's and the press briefing which followed Jurgensen's resignation reflected that. The immediate reaction of the BCB directors was that they would work to the best of their abilities to bring coaches from South Africa or any other country to make a replacement.
Even if BCB's statements were true and they magically manage to bring the likes of Gary Kirsten, the fact remains that a coach, no matter how high the profile, will need to make that extra effort to adjust with officials here and that is what Jurgensen successfully managed to do for most of his career; until of course, this last week.
Immediately after the World Twenty20, there was talk about bringing a new batting coach, a bowling consultant and a fielding coach; all in a bid to escape the critical fallout from the tournament.
With Jurgensen having resigned Bangladesh have not only lost a head but also their prime pace bowling coach. In the next few weeks the board will have to literally rebuild their entire team management from scratch, a task which, going by the way things have functioned recently, seems improbable.