KARACHI – Former Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq is back in pads for theQuaid e Azam trophy.
He has criticised Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to start thisyear’s domestic season earlier than usual.
Misbah who will be representing Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL)in the upcoming Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament is of the opinion that earlystart of domestic season will affect players’ performances while alsoincreasing chances of injury.
“The decision to start the season early will affect performances of teams,”he said in a press conference at the LCCA ground in Lahore. “Hot weatherand only one-day break in between matches will make it difficult forplayers, especially at the beginning of the season, while this can alsolead to injuries.”
Earlier the PCB had decided to revert to its old formula of holdingfour-day QeA Trophy matches followed by one-day cup matches — for everyround. The same venue will be used for both the formats. It must be notedthat a similar structure was also used in 2014 but it was scrapped nextseason because it failed to deliver in accordance with the expectations.
The domestic season will start from September 1, unlike last year when itbegan on September 26. Misbah had previously decided against participatingin QeA Trophy but because of absence of many SNGPL players — due tointernational assignments — the right-handed batsman agreed to representthe side on team management’s request.
“I wanted to keep on playing cricket which is why I decided to acceptSNGPL’s request,” he said. “Quite a few cricketers will be busyrepresenting Pakistan at the international level which is why I decided tomake a comeback.”