Misbah-ul-Haq officially applies for post of Pakistan head coach

With his name floating around for long as an ideal candidate to be at the helm of the Pakistan cricket team, Misbah-ul-Haq has finally decided to make an attempt to become the team’s head coach. He waited until the deadline day to make his application official, with the 26th of August having been set as the last day by the PCB for accepting applications.

The 45-year-old had a meeting with PCB’s Director for International Cricket, Zakir Khan in the afternoon on Monday and informed him of his decision to step down as a member of the Cricket Committee. Later, he formally applied for the post of the head coach to make himself an official candidate in the race.

"It has been interesting to see my name being mentioned as a future head coach of the Pakistan cricket team, but the fact is I only made the decision today. I am applying for the head coach's role fully aware that the competition will be tough as I envisage there will be a few more very competent and highly qualified people applying for one of the most challenging jobs in the game,” Misbah was reported saying by Cricbuzz.

Pakistan’s most successful captain of all time and an icon in the country, he is one of the greatest ever to have played the game representing the Green Army. He accumulated nearly 300 caps across all the three formats over a span of 16 years before announcing his decision to retire a couple of years ago. However, he does not have any coaching experience but his accolades ensure he is one of the front runners for being Mickey Arthur's successor.

"In saying so, I have to admit it is everyone's dream to coach Pakistan cricket team, which has tremendous potential to be a force to be reckoned with across all formats," Misbah added.

The decision is expected to be made final within a couple of weeks' time to allow the new staff enough time to settle in before Pakistan commences its season on September 27 with a limited-over home series against Sri Lanka.