Misbah, who is heading a 17-day training camp for a 20-man squad ahead of Pakistan’s domestic season, resigned from the PCB cricket committee before announcing his contention for the coach’s job.

Over the last week, reports that Misbah was considering taking up the position were doing the rounds, and though he denied those reports last week, he has now made his intentions clear. “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,” Misbah said in a PCB statement.

“If there had been any doubts, the SLC would not have gone ahead with this arrangement.”

Sri Lanka are set to play six white-ball games in Pakistan in September and October.

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“I am applying for the head coach’s role fully aware that the competition will be tough. 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.”

The PCB opted not to renew Arthur’s contract as head coach after the team finished outside the top four in World Cup 2019. Arthur had led Pakistan to the Champions Trophy title in 2017, and had only missed out on knockout positions at the World Cup on net run-rate.

[caption id=”attachment_119198″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Misbah-ul-Haq was popular for his press-up celebrations after scoring tons[/caption]

Incidentally, the decision to not renew Arthur’s contract, according to ESPNCricinfo, was taken by the PCB committee, of which Misbah was a prominent member.

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“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,” said Misbah in the statement.

Pakistan’s next international assignment will be against Sri Lanka next month, when they play six limited-overs matches in Karachi and Lahore.