Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf has ruled out any immediate changes in the national team and reposed confidence in captain Misbahul Haq and the team’s Australian coach Dav Whatmore.

Zaka in an interview with PTI killed rumors and speculations about impending changes in the management of the team for the ICC Champions Trophy by stating candidly that he saw no threat to the captaincy of Misbah or to Whatmore’s coaching tenure. “In the past we have been prone to pushing the panic button and making radical changes. I don’t want to do that.

I want to see consistency and continuity in the team.”There have been speculations about Misbah’s future in the team after Pakistan was whitewashed in the Test series in South Africa. The 39-year old batsman has come under fire from critics and some former players for his approach to batting and captaincy skills. Whatmore’s role in the team has also been questioned by critics and some former players after the South African tour.

But Zaka insisted that one need to look in entity at the performances of Misbah and Whatmore. “Misbah took over as captain in difficult times and so far he has done well and managed things well. He has also performed as a player. Till he is 100 per cent fit and committed and is performing, I don’t see any threat to his captaincy,” the PCB chief said. Misbah took over as Test captain after the spot-fixing scandal hit Pakistan cricket in 2010 and was also appointed the skipper of the limited overs side in 2011 after the World Cup. Misbah has done well in Tests except for the whitewash in South Africa and his record in ODIs is also good. Zaka said modern day cricket was entirely different from the past. “

Things have changed and cricket is now more scientific and organised. Look at all the other teams they have full support staffs. They don’t make changes unless very necessary,” he said. “My belief is to give a fair chance to anyone to assess his performance. Whatmore has a two year contract with us and we will review his performance at the right time. We also need to see that in the past one year Misbah and Whatmore have done pretty well,” he added. Zaka admitted that losing all the three Tests in South Africa was very disappointing but pointed out that these players had been forced to play away from home since 2009.

“It does make a difference and not many teams have gone and done well in South Africa. And we must keep in mind that our players fought back by winning the T20 international comprehensively and also fought hard in the ODI series,” he said. “I think the problem our team faced was that it didn’t get enough time to acclimatise with the South African pitches or conditions. When they did they showed this in the ODI series.” Ashraf said the PCB would try to provide the team with the best environment, facilities and confidence. “But we then expect them to perform accordingly. And as always there is no compromise on discipline.”