Pakistan left the cricketing world stunned with their 72-run win over England in the second Test match at Abu Dhabi. As the team erupted in celebrations at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, one of the prominent scenes was that of stand-in coach Mohsin Hasan Khan being thrown in jubilation by his team.
Much of Pakistan’s recent success has been (rightly) credited to the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq and his team’s newfound work ethic. Pakistan have now won all of their last four Test series, three of which have been played under the former chief selector, Khan, who took over the coaching reigns after the departure of Waqar Younis.
While Khan has been acting as the national team’s coach, the Pakistan Cricket Board has been looking to hire a permanent replacement for Younis. In former Sri Lanka and Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore, the board seems to have found the replacement but no official announcement has been made so far.
All this while, Khan has made no secret of his desire to continue with the job and has made a serious case for himself with the team’s recent success. However, with Whatmore being reportedly given the nod, Khan’s days as coach seem counted.
The PCB faces the dilemma of removing a coach who has not lost a series since he took charge, with a man who last coached a national side without much success.
Should the board go ahead and hire Whatmore as the permanent coach? Or should Khan’s tenure be extended?
If the coach is, indeed, changed, will it affect the team’s performance?
Dawn.com invites its readers to give their views and suggestions.
Mohsin should retain position as National Team Coach of Pakistan Cricket. PCB should put their trust in Mohsin, after all the results are obvious (he has been a winning combination for us). Naturally he is giving confidence / tranining /technique needed for any team to WIN and show consistancy. I agree that our cricket team are more comfortable with local coach / they are on the same page. They have no problem understanding Mohsin as a coach. Where as hiring a foreign coach will cost us a lot /language barrier will be another factor. Local coach will be more sincere then foreign coach as they are only here to get $$. PCB will be making a huge blunder if they opt to go for foreign coach.
The fact that local coaches do not do something for money is not true. Everyone works for money. The foreigner’s simply can command more because the local establishment pays them such. Local coaches are not working for free. the decision has to be made based on merit, as well as chemistry between coach and team.
Winning streak or not, does a foreign coach bring a skill not found in Pakistan ?!?
Does a foreign coach bring some special technology, does he have a better encyclopedia of cricket or does he have some special genes!?
For heavens sake…
Momentum is behind team Pakistan, so there shouldn’t be any change necessary at this level. What PCB should do is defer decision for another few years and let Mohsin Khan prove his abilities. In my opinion he deserves at least three years to transform this Pakistani side into a well coordinated team. After that they can put him in the pool and compare his performance against any other coach.
He has depicted signs of a very good coach, what else PCB needs. He brought in discipline, unity and has taught good technique to batsmen. His strategy which is typically built with team and coaches consensus has out smarted his opponents. He has personal experience of playing at many venues and understands conditions and culture well. He is also a great motivator. All leading to qualities of a decent coach.
Replacing him at this stage where Pakistan team is rediscovering themselves would be counterproductive and foolish.
Regards,
Not sure why are we trying to fix that is not broken, pls. do not rock the boat
yes, sure. mohsin khan should continue to be coach of pakistan cricket team. he has done well with the team. he is an honest man and know the job well. we should not get influenced by the foriegn type coaches. good luck mohsin khan.
I think. Mohsin Hassan Khan should be extended for at least two years as under his shadow, team is playing
unite and there is no reason to change.
Br
Asad Qureshi
IRAQ
Lets not get carried away, Pakistan has done extremely well, great effort by the coach and the team but this is on a dead spinning track real test would be on Australian or English wickets. Indian out classed England and look what happened to thier batting in Australia. Mohsin has done well but a more seasoned coach may make the team even better. The battling is better but still vunerable, Broad took quite a few wickets without much help from the pitch.
We are an emotion bunch in subcontinent Players are either Demi Gods or villans. Same people supporting M kahn would be after his head if we lose a series abroad. Try Whatmore for couple for years, Mohsin Khan is not going anywhere he can have his chance later.
Been born n raised in my beautiful pakistan and been blessed to see and play the rich and passion filled sport of cricket ever since a kid, I am very certain and am sensing a change of air and attitude in pakistan cricket team for the first time in such a long time. We have had many great performances in the past but nothing greater than what we just saw in dubai last week and on such a consistant note.
I personally Feel and Plead to the President of Pakistan ( Mr. Asif Ali Zardari) to give extension and make Mohsin Hassan Khan the only choice for Pakistan cricket for the next 5 years. The way everyone has gelled under his influence and diplomatic approach towards players and the way Misbah has responded as a Captain, i feel Pakistan team has the tenacity and capability to beat any side in the world on any given day.
PLEASE KEEP MOHSIN AS OUR CURRENT COACH AND DON’T HAMPER THE STABILITY OUR TEAM HAS GAIN IN LAST FEW MONTHS. CHANGES ARE GOOD AND THIS IS ANOTHER GOOD ONE WE HAVE SEEN. Let things rolls and if mohsin hassan khan is not measuring up to his task then YES he should also be replaced by a better choice. Dave Whatmore in my opinion was a choice pakistan sought just so to save our team from repetitive failure. I don’t think that is the case.
All we need is realization of our responsibilities, discipline and gelling and pitching in as a TEAM. No one can beat us then. Insha ALLAH.
Agree 100% Usman, we need to have confidence in ourselves and that includes the coaches. I always say “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” What if what’s his name stirs the apple cart and causes dissention among the rank and file? Team will suffer! I say leave the current set-up alone and let them concentrate on cricket. We have had enough drama! Haven’t we?
Mohsin Khan apparently understands Pakistani Team/ Players’ strength & limitations better. He has proven to implement those into policies & strategy very effectively. It will be foolish to alter that. If it is Not broken-Don’t Fix it…
Mohsin Khan should surely stay on as the team’s coach in the light of such good results. He has his heart in the team and he loves to see his his team win win and win.
First of all congrats to all Pakistan team and everyone who support Pakistani side.coming onto the topic I believe that PCB should go ahead with their plan as to appoint Dave as to coach the Pakistan side.even though Pakistan has performed really good under mohsin but still we have made a promise with a foreigner which should be met at all the costs.moreover Dave has a wonderful record as srilankan coach and he delivered very good results with Bangladesh.Mohsin should be kept in selection as he was doing a good job there.saying no to Dave at this stage when things are almost final will send a bad message that Pakistani never deal things in long terms and they are very short sited.please don’t put all the success in Mohsins bag Pakistan was performing not so bad before him under Waqar.
I think mohsin hassan khan deserve more
Time as coach, don’t break the winning streak
It’s hardwork plus luck also so don’t
Distrub the good and let the ball rolling.
I am requesting the PCB not to change the coach at this time as the team is going to go into a free fall if they do that. Our players have a problem understanding English and would not be able to understand “what” Whatmore is trying to teach them as there would be a language barrier. The only person who can speak English in our team is Misbah and that is another reason for him being the captain as he is the only one who can give press conferences in English. Mohsin is doing a great job at a nominal salary thus saving PCB a lot of money. Dav Whatmore would charge us arm and leg for the same job and would be a financial burden on PCB. I would advise PCB to hire Mohsin on a permanent basis for now and at the end of his term, if he is not doing a good job then we always have the option to replace him with Mr Whatmore. Also, we all have noticed that the batting of Pakistani players improved a lot because of Mohsin’s expert guidance and he surely corrected their techniques. Especially Taufeeq Umar who I used to laugh at every time he would come out to bat is now a changed man and has turned over a new leaf. The young guns are blazing with full force and the bowlers have turned into magicians. What else can we ask for from a coach? In short he is doing what he is supposed to do and we just don’t need Whatmore to jump in at this time to destroy the harvest.
PCB should extend Mohsin Khan’s tenure for better performance of Pak cricket team. Inspite of hiring foreign coach, local coach should be given preference. Local coach understands boys very well and boys cooperate with local coach inspite of foreign coach. In this way some public money will be saved from investing on foreign coach.
He rightly deserves to be the permanent coach of pakistan cricket team
Mohsin Khan deserves a little credit for the team outstanding performance recently. He has been with on coaching assignment with junior team without much success. I agree that the timing of his replacement must be a hard decision for PCB, yet there is a dire need of pursuing an active approach to work on the the team’s weaknesses which are overshadowed by brilliant performance by two off spinners. The team indeed needs an international coach who can keep them on winning track on all pitches and against all teams and there will be some bitter pills to swallow for long term goals. I sincerely believe that we will soon need someone to replace Misbah in ODIs and T20s as his defensive pressure building approach won’t work in each case.
Action of PCB is like a nurse waking up a patient to give him sleeping pills. We want a good coach so that team become more professional and disciplined. Now this is something already achieved under Mohsin therefore why do they want to look abroad and tinker with a winning combination despite all the merit Whatmore has as a coach ….
Mohsin Hasan Khan was a world class batsman. My father who was his Karachi University team Manager, always speaks highly of Mohsin and reminisces about his iconic battles with that great cricketer from Lahore (and brother of Ramiz Raha) late Wasim Raja . Mohsin Khan obviously has a very good partnership with Misbah as well. PCB should stay away from tinkering with a winning combination. If Mohsin Khan wants to keep the head coach job, why shouldn’t he be rewarded for the good work he has done so far?