Former Pakistan opener and coach Mudassar Nazar believes that Aaqib Javed should be the next coach of the national squad and current coach Waqar Younis can leave the position with his head high.
It may be 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. Mudassar, a veteran of 198 matches for Pakistan, was quoted by PakPassion as saying: “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 would ensure everyone bounced back.”
Mudassar 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 and Waqar formed a good partnership and did some excellent work in taking the team forward.” Mudassar believes that the regular changes in captaincy did not help Waqar 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 letting them surface 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 continue but his position was becoming untenable due to the imminent return of former captain Shahid Afridi. Another reason for Waqar’s resignation according to Nazar is that several of Waqar’s support staff were 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 being taken away from Waqar, it must have affected his decision. Only Ijaz Butt knows why those staff members were taken away, but I’m sure it must have been a key factor in Waqar’s decision to resign.” Waqar 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.
