Misbah-ul-Haq steps down as Pakistan's chief selector

LAHORE: Misbah-ul-Haq on Wednesday resigned from his post as chief selector of the Pakistan men's cricket team. Misbah said that he wants to focus on his role as head coach of the team, a position he had held jointly with the chief selector's post.

"Coaching is my passion and my ultimate objective remains to contribute to the development of players and help the side achieve bigger successes. When I was appointed last year, I was offered the coaching role first and then given the option to also head the selection committee, which I had graciously accepted," Misbah said in a press conference.

"With the new Cricket Association system in full flow, the chief selector has to be able to watch as much domestic cricket as possible. With a big 24 months now coming up, we have mutually agreed that there is a need for me now to be fully focused on one role."

PCB chief executive Wasim Khan said that the board "wholeheartedly respects" Misbah's decision. "When he took on the national head coach role, we also required him to take on the chief selector's role due to circumstances at that point in time," he was quoted as saying in the PCB's press release.

"Pakistan has three global events, including two Asia Cups and the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, as well as 10 Future Tour Programme commitments over the next 24 years. As head coach of the national side, he has reassessed his priorities and believes he has a better chance of producing the desired results by focusing solely on the coaching side. We are very happy to support his thinking on this." (IANS)

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