'PCB needs to be blamed, why were Mickey Arthur and Sarfaraz removed?' - Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif

Rashid Latif said both Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mickey Arthur had achieved success for Pakistan, which Misbah has failed to do on a consistent basis so there was no need to remove them.

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif said there was no need to remove head coach Mickey Arthur and captain Sarfaraz Ahmed. Latif’s comments came after a full-strength Pakistan side lost to a young and inexperienced England side minus multiple first-XI cricketers, by 3-0 in the ODIs.

Rashid Latif (Twitter)

The Pakistan Cricket Board appointed former captain Misbah-ul-Haq as the head coach of the side after they failed to reach the semifinals of the 2019 ODI World Cup in England.

Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was the captain of Pakistan for about three-four years, did not last long either. He was sacked as captain and dropped from all three formats after Pakistan suffered a whitewash against a weak Sri Lankan side in a T20 series at home in October-November 2019.

Latif, however, said both Sarfaraz and Arthur had achieved success for Pakistan, which Misbah has failed to do on a consistent basis.

Sarfaraz and Arthur had combined well to take Pakistan to the Champions Trophy title in 2017.

"I don't blame Misbah-ul Haq, perhaps he didn't want to be the head coach. He was young and inexperienced as a coach so why appoint him? It is the PCB to be blamed for what has happened," Latif said.

"Today we have lost to a second-string England team badly in the One-Day series which means that our cricket is not good enough to even beat England's bench strength."

Latif hoped Pakistan can bounce back in the T20 series against England, starting on Friday, after being whitewashed 0-3 by the hosts in the ODI rubber.

"Let's just hope they can bounce back because we can't afford anymore setbacks."

(With PTI inputs)