With two cruicial roles to perform, the former captain would have to be at his shrewdest best. PHOTO: AFP
Moin Khan has turned out to be arguably the most trusted lieutenant of the incumbent Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi.
After donning the manager and the head coach’s hat, the feisty former cricketer has been installed in perhaps his most powerful role yet — chief selector and manager.
The dual responsibility of selecting the team and then making them fight on the field is set to be a Herculean challenge for the 69-Test veteran. Additionally, he is going to play a leading role in choosing the coaching panel as one of the three members of the committee that will evaluate the candidates.
In a nutshell, Moin would be selecting the national team, the coaching panel and the selection committee — no PCB official has had such a wide-ranging and powerful role in recent memory.
The former Test captain, who led 13 times in the longest format of the game, has endured a rollercoaster ride since he joined the board last year.
His management and coaching skills have been severely tested and he would need to start with a fresh mind after the debacle in the WorldTwenty20 in Bangladesh; this is the time where his abilities will
go under a genuine litmus test.
While the role would give him better control over the players, it will make him accountable for their performance at the same time.
Not many can question Moin’s credentials and the board’s confidence in his abilities; but the fact remains that Pakistan cricket is nothing short of a complicated maze.
For now, the Karachi-born member of the 1992 World Cup winning team remains a popular choice, but he is bound to attract his detractors soon.
As soon as the team crashes, or the performance nosedives, Moin would have draggers drawn in his direction.
He simply has nowhere to hide, as he gets to choose the players, their coaches and then gets to manage them [a punching bag in waiting]
Anyone who has had even the remotest connection with the national team would know that the task is extremely tough. One hopes Moin is up for it.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2014.
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Hope he get rid of old stock and inducts new talent in the team.
How is it when the players perform badly it is always the manager's fault and they get sacked. If the salaries these players are on don't motivate them to win just what will. Bunch of overpaid lazy prima donna's if you ask me. How about if they don't perform they don't get paid. Ban cricket in Pakistan and just switch to real hard sports as all world are doing. Y cricket is destroying our sports culture !
Any tough task can be completed on its merit. You will be OK Moin so long you select the deserving cricketers in the team, build a pipeline, don't let discipline get away and find the right people to coach and select. It is as simple, do your job as it is meant to be done with out any prejudice, you will do great.