Dav Whatmore, who is in Pakistan to take over as coach of the Pakistan team met PCB COO Subhan Ahmed and the coach selecting committee chief Intikhab Alam on Sunday. It was learnt that all the details of the contract with Whatmore have been finalsied but the final approval of his job will be given by PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf. Whatmore will be meeting the chairman on Monday and only after that meeting things would get a clear shape. Whatmore has not interacted with media since his arrival, on Saturday and only after things are finalized then he would likely be brought before the media.
The PCB committee before called Whatmore for a meeting, finalised its recommendations and gave it to the PCB. A source said that all the paper work has been completed as Whatmore being the next head coach of Pakistan but one-to-one meeting was necessary before signing up of the contract.
The final appointment would take place after England series. The coaching vacancy got created after former fast bowler Waqar Younis resigned as head coach on health issues and since then the team was being maintained by interim coach Mohsin Khan, who is also running from dusk to dawn to get a permanent coaching job. Whatmore, who played seven Tests and one one-day international for Australia in 1979, was in talks with the PCB through another former captain Ramiz Raja, who assisted the committee.
Whatmore, who recently resigned as the coach of the Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders, had a colourful coaching background. Pakistan has a history of sacking coaches and has had six in the last ten years. The PCB showed door to first foreign coach Richard Pybus of South Africa after the 2003 World Cup, and sacked former Australian paceman Geoff Lawson in 2008. But former England batsman Bob Woolmer had a successful stint from 2004 before he died in mysterious circumstances in the West Indies, a day after Ireland upset Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup. England’s former county player Julian Fountain is in contention to take over as fielding coach, while former Pakistan paceman Aaqib Javed — already on UAE tour — is the likely bowling coach.
