Former Pakistani opener and coach Mudassar Nazar feels Aaqib Javed
should be the next coach of the national squad, and adds that current
coach Waqar Younis can leave the position with his head held high.
It maybe recalled that Waqar recently offered his resignation to the
Pakistan Cricket Board for personal and health reasons, and his
resignation was reluctantly accepted by a board that has been striving
for continuity.
Speaking exclusively to PakPassion.net , Mudassar a veteran of 198
matches for Pakistan stated “Waqar has done remarkably well. If you
look at when he came into the side there were serious problems. There
were a lot of things going on that were not under his control but he
did some good work. If there were any mishaps, he’d ensure everyone
bounced back.”
Mudassar who was part of some very solid Pakistan sides of yesteryear
added “when analysing Waqar’s performance as coach, it has to be taken
into account that he was working with a group of players who were
certainly not the strongest of units in Pakistan’s history. Aaqib
(Javed) and Waqar formed a good partnership and did some excellent work
in taking the team forward.”
Nazar feels that the regular changes in captaincy did not help Waqar
either, but again he should be commended for taking all the changes in
his stride.
“The Pakistan team has had several changes in captain whilst Waqar has
been coach, but he put his head down, drove the team forward and got on
with the job in hand. The team performances under Waqar were better
than what the team strength was, which speaks volumes for Waqar’s and
the team’s efforts. If you look at the team recently, they have lacked
bowlers especially having lost a few players due to spot fixing –
especially two match winning bowlers. The batting strength was not that
good and the fielding wasn’t a strong suit either.”
Nazar also feels that the differences with former captain Shahid Afridi
should have been handled much better by all parties and resolved
quickly, rather than them dragging on.
“Waqar’s tenure was good, but unfortunately he had some
misunderstandings with Shahid Afridi. The misunderstandings were there,
but they should have been nipped in the bud a long time ago, rather
than them surfacing in the media. Former manager Intikhab Alam should
have played a pivotal role in resolving the differences between Waqar
and Afridi, or the captain and coach should have sat down and had an
open discussion and sorted out any issues and got on with their roles
and for the betterment of the Pakistan cricket team which should have
been their primary objective.”
Nazar though is of the opinion that Waqar would have liked to have
continued but his position was becoming untenable due to the imminent
return of former captain Shahid Afridi.
“I’m sure Waqar would have liked to have continued in his role, but his
position was going to become more and more untenable due to the likely
return of Shahid Afridi who I feel is likely to return to the side in
October. With that in mind Waqar probably thought that this was the
right time to resign and walk away from this. Waqar probably feels that
he doesn’t need this situation and if Afridi is to come back then one
of them would have to go and due to this, he preferred to walk away
now. I think he’s done the right thing by walking away.”
Another reason for Waqar’s resignation according to Nazar is that
several of Waqar’s support staff have been taken away from him by the
Board.
“The people that were helping him and supporting him in his role have
been taken away from him and he stands alone now. Whatever the reason
for those support staff to have been taken away from Waqar, it must
have affected his decision. Only Ijaz Butt knows why those support
staff were taken away, but I’m sure it must have been a key factor in
Waqar’s decision to resign.”
Waqar was one of Pakistan’s greatest ever cricketers and will always
have a special place in the hearts of cricket fans around the world. He
was one of the finest exponents of reverse swing, but Mudassar feels
that even such an experienced and high profile former cricketer will
have felt the effects and pressure of interference from the Chairman
and the slating in the press.
“When you have the former captain vilifying you and the management in
the media at every opportunity it is bound to effect you, irrespective
of how experienced you are. In addition you have the Chairman Ijaz Butt
taking so many decisions above your head, that it’s such a difficult
role to carry out.”
Non Pakistani coaches of recent times have included Richard Pybus,
Geoff Lawson and the late Bob Woolmer, but Nazar thinks that the job
should be given to Waqar’s understudy Aaqib Javed this time around.
“I’m at ease with either a Pakistani or non Pakistani coach, whoever is
best for the job should be given the role. However it’s almost
impossible to appoint a non Pakistani coach and expect him to spend so
much time working in Pakistan. Unfortunately living in Pakistan at the
moment is difficult even for Pakistanis so how can we expect a
foreigner to come and settle in Pakistan or spend so much time in
Pakistan? Credit to Geoff Lawson, he spent a lot of time in Pakistan
and stayed there for long periods whilst he was coach, so perhaps there
maybe someone out there who will do what Lawson did.
“I have a lot of faith in Aaqib Javed as he has come through the
Pakistani system. He’s been working in different roles for nearly the
last 10 years. He’s a damn good coach and I think they should appoint
Aaqib as coach. I’d be happy if he was given the role, providing you
give him some support with a batting coach. In addition, despite what
Afridi says in the press, he would like to come back to the Pakistan
side as captain and Aaqib is on reasonable terms with Afridi, so that
may be a reasonable combination,” he said. (ANI)
