LAHORE – Pakistan cricket coach Waqar Younis has expressed his disappointment after the support staff and management of the cricket team were ignored as the team was lauded for its performance. Waqar believes it is high time the team management and support staff are rewarded along with the national team for any series or tournament triumph.
Waqar said he was disappointed that there was no trend of recognising the efforts of the support staff and management in the good performance of the team. The former Pakistan captain voiced his views on the issue at a reception for the World Cup squad at the Sindh Chief Minister’s house last night, where cash awards of Rs 550,000 were announced for each player.
Earlier, the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had also distributed the same amount to each player in Lahore, while more financial rewards appear to be on way for the players when they attend the Prime Minister’s reception in Islamabad on Monday. “I just think that the management deserves the same treatment as the players,” Waqar told reporters.
“Because if a team does not perform well, the support staff and management are also held responsible and are criticised like the players. So when the team does well the contribution of the support staff and management towards the success of the team should also be recognised,” the Pakistan coach said. Presently, under the payment system prevalent in Pakistan cricket, any winnings in a tournament or event are distributed equally among the players.
The management is entitled to only a share that is given to a player and the amount has to be distributed among all the support staff. Even when a player wins individual awards, he keeps 25 percent of the earnings and the rest is distributed among the other players. The Pakistan team returned home with winnings of around USD 1.1 million for reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup, which roughly comes to around Rs 95 million.
Waqar paid rich tribute to the retired fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and said it would be difficult to find an ideal replacement for the enigmatic pacer, who retired after the World Cup. “Shoaib was a big name in Pakistan cricket and there is no doubt that he left an impact on the team. It is never easy to replace such players but I guess every player has to sometime call it a day,” Waqar said.
Akhtar had announced his retirement after the World Cup match against New Zealand in which he was bludgeoned for 28 runs in one over by the Kiwi batsmen. The tour selection committee did not play Akhtar after that match although there were calls for him to be included in the team for the semi-final against India. Waqar said that the tour selection committee took the best possible decision, keeping in mind the requirements of the team.
“No one doubts that Shoaib has given some great service to Pakistan cricket and it will be hard to find a replacement for him but it is also a fact that every cricketer has to call it a day sometime in his career,” Waqar added. The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt said this week that it was a shame that there was no culture in Pakistan for senior players to retire at the right time.
“In Pakistan, we have an issue where senior players can’t decide themselves when it is time for them to call it a day and unfortunately the board then has to take this decision,” Butt said. Shoaib, since returning from the World Cup, has maintained a low profile despite reports now emerging that majority of the players in the team wanted the management to select him for the semi-final against India that Pakistan lost by 29 runs.
Waqar also spoke about the forthcoming tour to the West Indies and admitted that since both teams had announced new players in their squads, it should be a relatively easier series.
“The World Cup is a benchmark for teams and normally after a World Cup the idea is to rebuild the team and introduce new players while giving rest to seniors or dropping some of them.
