August 26, 2024

Waqar, Misbah Among Five Mentors Appointed by PCB for Domestic Competitions

Shoaib Malik, Saqlain Mushtaq, and Sarfaraz Ahmed have been appointed as mentors for the new domestic competitions introduced by the PCB this season. Their first major assignment will be the Champions One-Day Cup, which will be held from September 12 to 29 in Faisalabad. Sarfaraz will continue his playing career while also taking on his mentoring role.

Waqar Younis, who recently concluded his role as advisor to the PCB chairman on cricket matters, has now taken up a mentoring position for one of the five teams in the new domestic competitions. Although Waqar was initially set to become the PCB’s cricket head, his role changed unexpectedly. The PCB has not detailed the reasons for this shift but suggests that Waqar might be more suited for a team-building role. His new mentoring role comes with a three-year contract.

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has since clarified that Waqar played a crucial role in selecting the other mentors. The position of advisor to the chairman remains open and is currently being advertised.

This change in roles has not been fully explained by the PCB, but it reflects a strategic shift in Waqar’s responsibilities from overseeing the broader cricketing aspects to a more hands-on role in team development.

“Waqar Younis assisted us for the last 3-4 weeks,” Naqvi said. “He’s a great name to have, a great cricketer was on board with us. He helped us finalise the other mentors. He spoke to them, did everything. And then he had to handle the fifth team. So in the first 3-4 weeks, in this entire exercise, he spoke to them, convinced them, to get them on board, and now he will handle the fifth team.”

“As per the constitution we couldn’t hire him as a mentor straight away, only as an advisor. And now he is a mentor handling an entire team.”

In an earlier statement, Naqvi had welcomed “five exceptional champions as mentors” for the Champions Cup teams. “These individuals bring a wealth of cricketing experience, knowledge and expertise, which, combined with their passion for the game we all love, will help the Pakistan Cricket Board identify, develop and nurture the next generation of cricketers across all formats. This initiative will not only benefit the Pakistan men’s cricket team but also help bridge the gap between domestic and international cricket.”

Pakistan and Bangladesh Penalised for Slow Over-rates in Rawalpindi

The gap between the last-placed West Indies and Pakistan has narrowed after recent penalties, and Bangladesh has fallen from sixth to seventh place in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings.

Pakistan lost six points and Bangladesh lost three points due to slow over-rates in the first Test of their series in Rawalpindi. Match referee Ranjan Madugalle found Pakistan was six overs short of the required over-rate, while Bangladesh was three overs short. Additionally, players from both teams were fined: Pakistan’s players were fined 30% of their match fees, and Bangladesh’s players were fined 15%.

Under the ICC Code of Conduct, teams are fined 5% of their match fees for each over they fall short of the required number, and according to World Test Championship (WTC) rules, teams lose one point for each over they are short.

In the recent Test in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, using an all-pace attack for the first time in 28 years, lost by ten wickets and fell short on their over-rate. Bangladesh, which had two spin bowlers, also faced penalties.

As a result of these sanctions, Pakistan’s points dropped from 22 to 16, placing them second from the bottom in the WTC standings with 22.22 percentage points. Bangladesh slipped from sixth to seventh after losing three points, now holding 21 points and 35 percentage points.

Both captains, Shan Masood and Najmul Hossain Shanto, admitted the violations and accepted the penalties.