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'From Unplayable To Toothless' - Misbah Cites Fatigue As Key To Pakistan's Struggles

image-losh41oyPakistan stand on the brink of World Cup exit (Twitter)

Former Pakistan skipper Misbah-Ul-Haq held Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) responsible for Babar Azam & company's painstaking struggles and pre-semifinal exit at the ICC World Cup 2023 in India. 

Misbah, who recently resigned from his role as the PCB advisor, having earlier spent time associating with the cricket regime in a head coach's capacity, said the board has let "fatigue" spread across the set-up and pacers have been dealt the worst hand. 

The ex skipper questioned PCB's mismanagement of Pakistan's 12-month itinerary and underlined a strenuously busy calendar as the reason for the downfall of Shaheen Afridi and the rest of the bowling pack at the marquee tournament across the border. 



For Misbah, the journey from being an "unplayable" attack to a "toothless" set of pacers didn't start with the World Cup but had been in the offing for a long time, with Pakistan playing far too much limited-overs cricket, especially T20Is, and failing to cultivate the right skillset and fitness for One-Day Internationals while enduring excess physical strain and fatigue. 

Misbah Blames PCB For World Cup 2023 Failure 

Speaking on Pakistan-based 'A Sports', Misbah said he had warned of repercussions for PCB's greedy organisation of international matches without looking after the players' welfare and workload and is not surprised that Babar's men have faced the brunt of the mismanagement. 

Pakistan have been constantly on the road with players undergoing massive workload without being given due rest and rotation as is done by other major international sides, including India, where head coach Rahul Dravid and selectors faced heavy criticism but trusted the plan to provide senior players and key cogs timely breaks in the build-up to the World Cup. 

"When I learnt that this is Pakistan's schedule before the World Cup, I had said 'good luck to Pakistan. "Even if we survived this schedule, there were difficulties (because) we're playing one match in Pakistan, then in Sri Lanka and travelling across... why?"



"You have your own tournament (Pakistan Super League) and your players are the ones suffering the worst. I always say that whenever a schedule is being made, the PCB should consult the players and the team management. They should be on board with the schedule before the MOU is signed."