Ehsan Mani is currently at the helm of a campaign to bring a sea change in the way cricket is run in Pakistan. The former ICC President, who was handpicked for the job of Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) by Prime Minister Imran Khan last year, has roped in highly-rated England-born cricket administrator, Wasim Khan, as the Board’s CEO. Under his command, the PCB has ignored foreign candidates and has instead opted for untested Misbah-ul-Haq for the powerful dual role of head coach and chief selector. The Board has undertaken a process to restructure Pakistan’s domestic cricket and a drive is on to induct more professionals in the PCB.

Mani stresses that all such measures are being taken to transform the Board, which was sinking under its own weight, into the best cricket board in the world.

There has been a pushback against Mani’s campaign for professionalism in Pakistan cricket but in an interview with The News on Sunday, the PCB chief makes it clear that he won’t budge. Following is the first part of the interview.

TNS: What were the reasons behind opting for someone with no coaching experience, no selection experience and give him the dual role of head coach and chief selector?

Ehsan Mani: We had to do something totally radical. Currently, we are number seven in the Test rankings, we are number six in ODIs. Okay, we are number one in the Twenty20 International rankings but that’s a different format from Tests and ODIs.

If you see in the past we had coaches like Bob Woomler, a great man. In fact I was the one who introduced him. Then I must say that there is no one more passionate than Mickey Arthur. His heart and soul are for Pakistan cricket. He really loves Pakistan. But the problem is that they were not delivering. PCB’s focus should have been on the end result. One of the biggest issues we’ve faced is that there is a disconnect between the coach and players.

Under foreign coaches, we weren’t attaining fitness levels, we weren’t attaining consistency. There was something lacking. We needed to improve the mindset of the players. We needed someone who had played with them. Misbah-ul-Haq had played with them. He knew them, he knew their background, their family lives, he knew where they were coming from. Because he had been their captain, he has a very no-nonsense approach. Players now know exactly where they stand with him. Unfortunately our foreign staff doesn’t know how to deal with the players. If a player comes to them with a false excuse, they would believe him because they come from a different culture. They aren’t aware how manipulative our boys can be. So there is always this cultural gap whenever we have overseas coaches. That’s my assessment.

We knew that we needed a Pakistani coach. There are very few Pakistani options available when you think about getting a home grown head coach. But we followed due process. I told them to advertise for the post of head coach. We had the Cricket Committee members to find the best coach and then we inducted members like Bazid Khan, who travels the cricketing world and knows how cricket is run in major Test-playing countries. Many applied for the post. There were people with far more experience than Misbah.

On the other hand, Misbah had his own plus points. He leads by example. His fitness levels, his approach to cricket is a no-nonsense approach. You have to perform to be in his good books. He might not have the sort of experience which other candidates had but he had been a very successful captain for Pakistan. People often criticise him for being too defensive but I don’t agree. Time and again, he showed that he could be aggressive when required. He could play according to the circumstances. The committee came out with a unanimous decision in favour of Misbah. To be true, I thought about it long and hard. I had a long meeting Misbah I listened to him. In the end it was a decision that I took very comfortably. There was no doubt in my mind that he was the right choice. Before meeting him, I did ask Wasim Khan, the Board’s CEO, to once again review other candidates but he told me that it was a unanimous decision by the Cricket Committee. Not a single members of the committee disagreed.

TNS: What were the reasons behind giving Misbah an unprecedented dual role?

EM: We thought about it carefully. Initially I didn’t think that we would go this way. But then I took a look at our new domestic structure and I thought maybe we needed to check what other major cricket-playing nations were doing. In Australia, there were just two selectors - Greg Chappell and Trevor Hohns. I spoke to Hohns myself and asked him how do they manage in a vast country like Australia. He told me that they use scouts in every state. They help us find new talent, he told me.

New Zealand’s model is very much same to what we are doing now. The modern trend is you combine the two roles.

TNS: Don’t you think it makes Misbah too powerful?

EM: We have placed some checks and balances even though I have no doubts about Misbah’s integrity at all. But we want to put a system in place. We have decided that the head coaches of the six regional teams will also serve as selectors. They will watch each first-class match and they will give their inputs to Misbah. The Board will have oversight. There can be cases in which the head coach can go for raw talent and maybe keep aside the process. We have seen this happening in several cases like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. In their cases, someone had an eye to spot their talent. Misbah will have a free hand but that doesn’t mean that Misbah’s selection will go unchallenged. The regional coaches will make their recommendations before formation of the team. Misbah will select the squad as chief selector. The team will then go to the CEO. PCB’s role will be of oversight than of decision-making. The CEO will review it. The team will then come to me. I’m playing a reverse role in this by giving my input but the final approval will come from the CEO.

TNS: There are fears that a powerful coach could undermine the captain?

EM: The captain is leader of the team. A strong captain will be a strong leader. What was happening with recent coaches was that our captains were depending too much on them for tactics. There was over dependence. The captain will certainly have the power to lead the team on the field according to his plans. He will have complete support from the Board.

TNS: Do you support the captaincy of Sarfraz Ahmed?

EM: I must say that Sarfraz has had a very positive impact on the Pakistan team. Under him we won the Champions Trophy. On our day, the team plays very well and can beat the best in the world. The problem with the Pakistan team is a lack of consistency and that’s because of a lack of professionalism. That shortcoming can be overcome with the arrival of Misbah. So I think Sarfraz remains our best choice for captaincy. But he is not getting any younger. We needed a succession plan. Today when I ask them whom we should make captain instead of Sarfraz, they tell me that we have no other options. This is really sad. Over the years we haven’t groomed any one for the leadership role.

TNS: Do you think Babar Azam is a good choice as Sarfraz’s successor?

EM: I believe so. Babar needs grooming, he needs full support. He has immense talent. I think he will succeed when his time comes. There are two types of people. There is one type who can’t cope with extra responsibility. Then there is the type that thrives on it. I think Babar will thrive on the leadership role. He is a very very dedicated player. No one in the Pakistan team works harder than him. He is very serious. Then there are other potential captains as well. We have Shan Masood captaining one of the first-class teams. We will soon have several choices who can step up when the need arises.

To be continued…