Too early to appoint Misbah as head coach: Saqlain

Former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq believes that the Men in Green’s ex-skipper Misbahul Haq should have been assigned a role in the National Cricket Academy (NCA), before being appointed as a head coach, as his expertise would have helped in the grooming of the young players.

Saqlain, who played 49 Tests and 169 One-day Internationals (ODIs) for Pakistan between 1995 and 2004, was of the view that appointing Misbah as the head coach will be premature as he lacks coaching experience.

"Misbah was a wonderful, disciplined and a great player. He served the nation with loyalty and honesty," Saqlain said on his Youtube channel. "I think it would be a bit early to appoint him on the post [head coach]. If Misbah had got a year or two in coaching set up before applying for the head coach job, then it would have been better for him."

PCB set to relax head coach requirements for Misbah

The interviews of candidates for the vacant head coach post were conducted on Thursday in which Misbah, former Test opener Mohsin Hasan Khan and ex-Australian batsman Dean Jones (through video-link) were interviewed.

The 42-year old, who took 208 Test and 288 ODI wickets, believes that Misbah’s experience would have been more beneficial in the development of young players ay the NCA in Lahore.

"Misbah must be given the responsibility to look-after and coach upcoming as well as senior players in the academy," he said.

However, the former off-spinner advised Misbah to look towards the future if given the responsibility of the aforementioned role.

"PCB and Misbah must make a plan for the upcoming series and World Cup and also replacements of the retiring players in future," he concluded.