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Misbah fears losing his captaincy: Mohsin
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq had led Pakistan admirably in 2011. His team has tasted great success across all three formats this year. However, according to coach Mohsin Khan, Misbah is bothered that failure in two or three matches could put his captaincy and place in the national team in jeopardy.
Mohsin made these statements in an exclusive interview to Geo Super channel when asked that many former players and critics felt that Misbah was a defensive captain.
"It is necessary to understand that at his age, he still worries about being dropped from the national squad if he fails in one or two matches. This is the reason why he tends to play it safe. He has gained a lot of confidence while captaining Pakistan but I have told him to focus on the game and lead the team by example", Mohsin stated.
Misbah's stint as captain began with a tough Test series against South Africa in the UAE. Many experts believed that Pakistan had no chance as they were missing players like Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt. However, they held South Africa to a 0-0 draw. Misbah gained greater success in the New Zealand tour early this year when he led the side to a 1-0 Test victory and he also played an integral part in the ODI series triumph on the same tour.
Pakistan exceeded expectations to reach the World Cup semi-finals and continued with their winning ways in the West Indies. That tour was marred by a fall-out between Shahid Afridi and the team management. Pakistan won the one-day leg and came back to square the Tests 1-1. After end of the West Indies series, Misbah was handed the captaincy of the limited-overs side as well and led Pakistan to victories in all formats against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Mohsin added that Misbah is an intelligent player and a composed captain and he communicates well with the players. He has pushed for victories in any situation and that he has batted very well. Mohsin apparently told him to not waste any innings and to just go out there and get runs.
He described his working relationship with Misbah as ideal as he pointed out that Misbah had the knack of consulting other players and management and keeping them on board for important decisions.
"During the last Test against Bangladesh both of us decided that we will not settle for a draw and that we shall go for victory," Mohsin said.
The Pakistan coach lashed out at his critics who have accused him of being an armchair coach. He has also being criticized for not being physically very active and holding long team meetings to the frustration of the players.
"I have got along well with the players. People need to understand that the job of a coach nowadays is to mentally make his players stronger. A coach is a planner and I don't think you can teach anything more in batting terms to Misbah or Younis Khan at this stage," he said.
Mohsin admitted that he didn't shy away from having a word with either senior or junior players if they failed to live up to expectations or didn't execute things properly on the field.
"I have told the players that we are all professionals and we are supposed to deliver. My philosophy is to give 100 percent on the field. Winning and losing is part of sports but we should not let out fans down as they pray for our success each and every time.