The logical search of someone better

Even in a historic whitewash, we’ve found a reason to disagree.

With the 72-run mauling in Dubai — a win culminating in a clean-sweep can’t be classified as anything but that — the current crop became the first Pakistan cricket team to inflict a series whitewash on England, the first in over 100 years to receive the winner’s cheque after being appalling with the bat in the first innings.

The question now revolves around the future of a former Bollywood star and whether he’d be allowed to script more fairytale endings that his team has muscled its way through. Mohsin Khan was good with the bat, perhaps not so good with his lines, but with his effort donning the thinking cap, he’s been nothing short of remarkable.

But the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which elevated Mohsin’s position from a chief selector to a more demanding interim coach, now wants him out. We need a qualified coach, says PCB chief Zaka Ashraf, repeatedly reminding Mohsin of how he doesn’t carry any coaching certificates in his backpack.

Given the idiocy one normally associates with the PCB, you’d sit and question the very logic of ‘replacing something which isn’t broke’. The team finds itself in alien territory, having not lost a Test series since August 2010 and having not lost a player through a ban for the same period. But while the majority seem content — and that’s what wins can do — there still exists a long, long way to go. Despite the draws and the wins, Pakistan is still ranked fifth. None of the seven series since the 3-1 loss in England have been in South Africa or Australia. The batting is still fragile and the catching forces them to stay in the sun longer than they should. We’ve been surprisingly good but room for improvement, despite the results, exists. The meteoric rise must not stabilise. It needs to maintain the ascent.

Modern coaching techniques, strategic planning, assigning apt roles for assistant coaches and managing workloads are all areas Mohsin might be aware of. But the ‘qualified’ coach sought by the PCB might know it better. Rashid Latif wants the success percentage to question the logic of certificates. The others want the board to consider Mohsin’s limited artillery and what happens when he’s fired his round.

The board might be aware of areas handled well by Mohsin but, for the sake of improvement, these can be addressed in a better way by someone else. A qualified coach can impart the latest techniques to the various assistant coaches — and the National Cricket Academy staff in the off-season — in addition to the players, sharing the various methods, advancements and shortcuts ranging from training drills to even suggesting diets as the youngsters step in as worthy replacements.

He’d be able to look beyond the next five days, delegating daily tasks to his team while plotting major downfalls. The PCB, perhaps, should rename the post as ‘chief tactician’ because at this level, it remains as important as scoring runs.

Mohsin’s done us all proud. He’s mostly remained calm, talked of serving the country in a dignified manner and brought Pakistan prestigious laurels. But for the sake of scaling new heights, the decision to replace Mohsin might just be one of the few thoughtful moves by the PCB in a long, long time.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2012.