Former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja has defended sacking of Misbah-ul-Haq andWaqar Younis from their respective coaching roles when he took over thecricket board.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) underwent a series of changes recentlywhen Ramiz Raja was sacked as the chairman of the board, with Najam Sethitaking over as the chief of a 14-member managing committee for four months.
In addition, former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi was also brought in asan interim chief selector, with fellow ex-players Abdul Razzaq and RaoIftikhar Anjum joining the panel.
Following the changes, Ramiz Raja went ballistic over the manner in whichhe was sacked and made allegations that he wasn’t even allowed to gatherhis belongings from his office.
However, in an interview with a private TV channel, Ramiz Raja whileresponding to a question that there has been significant criticism of theformer PCB chairman as many have referred to the unceremonious departure ofMisbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis under his tenure, defended his decision tosend both the coaches home.
Misbah (head coach) and Waqar (bowling coach) had stepped down from therole merely days before the T20 World Cup in 2021; however, Ramiz repliedthat the changes were needed at the time and that it was his “right” totake the decision.
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“They received their full payments for two years. They were given fullrespect. As a chairman, it was my right to dismiss them. Even now, they aretalking about removing Saqlain Mushtaq and replacing him with MickeyArthur. I made contracts in such a way that I didn’t want the board to beleft with a coaching setup for three years,” Ramiz said.
Ramiz further stated that he had realised that the changes were needed whenhe was doing commentary on Pakistan games.
“We had yearly contracts. They (Misbah and Waqar) would’ve left inJanuary/February anyway. We brought a new management. It wasn’t easy forme. I’ve played with Waqar, I talked to him in detail. The CEO talked toMisbah. It obviously didn’t look good that the change took place with aweek or 10 days before the T20 World Cup. But I had an idea that we couldonly go to a certain extent with them.
