Saeed Ajmal: “the good news is that he is taking all this in a positive fashion and what we need to understand is that it takes time to build a team and that could take about a year”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Legendary Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal believes Misbah-ul-Haq has what it takes to excel as the national team’s head coach and chief selector.

Since being appointed to the dual role in September, Pakistan have had mixed results under Misbah’s leadership.

In the limited overs series against Sri Lanka in September to October last year, Pakistan won the ODI series 2-0, but were whitewashed 3-0 in the three-match Twenty20 series that followed.

They were then beaten 2-0 by Australia in a three-match Twenty20 International series and lost the Test series 2-0.

However, they have turned their fortunes as of late as they beat Sri Lanka 1-0 in a two-Test series and defeated Bangladesh 2-0 in a three-match Twenty20 series.

Most recently, Pakistan crushed Bangladesh by an innings and 44 runs in the first Test, which was held in Rawalpindi in February.

Pakistan were scheduled to play a one-off ODI and their second Test against Bangladesh in Karachi in April, but it was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

[interaction id=”5d6f8a7ef1f46856a9420100″]

“There used to be a time when the head coach would blame the selection panel for shortcomings but now that Misbah has all those roles, all decisions lie with him and he is bound to have some pressure,” Ajmal told PakPassion. “But the good news is that he is taking all this in a positive fashion and what we need to understand is that it takes time to build a team and that could take about a year.

“What Misbah wants to do is to try out all his frontline players and to build a quality squad once he is convinced of the utility of those players. If people are worried about our performances in Australia, then let me ask his critics which other Pakistan side has won in Australia before. We’ve had top teams from Pakistan go to Australia and lose the series so if we lost there again then that is not a huge issue.

“You need to give time to evaluate the performance of any player or coach and hopefully, when he has built the right squad and it starts performing, the same critics who lambast him now will be singing his praises.”

ALSO CHECK OUT: Saeed Ajmal reveals his advice and tips for becoming a successful bowler

[interaction id=”5dc6e7fe84c507bcfc1855f9″]