The Pakistani Cricket Board’s quest for a suitable bowling coach in the aftermath of Aaqib Javed’s resignation has been in the news for a while with various names being touted – officially and unofficially – as probable candidates for this position.
Jalal-ud-din, Ian Pont, Sabih Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed and Mohammed Akram are some of the names mentioned in this regard and in the beginning of April, the head of the coach-searching committee, former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam had stated to the media that a coach would be in position before the start of the tour of Sri Lanka.
Intikhab has acknowledged a change in his previous position on this matter and stated that the appointment of the coach has been delayed to ensure that the decision is made after careful consideration. “The appointment will now be made after the tour of Sri Lanka. The bowling coach will not be in place before the tour of Sri Lanka as had been reported previously. The main reason for this is that we don’t want to rush the appointment for an important position as this – it has to be the right person” Intikhab was quoted by Pakpassion.
Head Coach Dav Whatmore and fielding coach Julien Fountain were recruited after Chairman Zaka Ashraf stated that professional coaches were the way forward for Pakistan cricket and have been in charge of the team for almost 2 months. It is therefore understandable that the PCB would do their utmost to provide an able stable mate – a thought echoed by Intikhab.
“We have two very good coaches in place and we want to ensure that the bowling coach is also of a high calibre”
With names of some famous and not so famous ex-cricketers being mentioned as candidates for the job, there had also been speculation in the media that the causes of the delay are based upon the lack of quality applicants. This was refuted by Intikhab Alam who stated that “It’s not correct to assume that just because there are delays in this appointment, the current applicants are not acceptable or of the standard required”
