The former Pakistani player and captain, Waqar Younis says that he is open for a role as a permanent coach for the team if considered apt for it. In recent times, Waqar was the bowling coach for Pakistan at their recent stint in Australia that turned out to be less than fruitful. He was appointed the coach for that series only but now has said that he would love to coach permanently for Pakistan.
The Pakistan Board has not given any comments on this matter, yet has acknowledged the fact that they are looking for a new coach that would replace Intikhab Alam. The inquiry committee that is looking into the Australia tour maintains that nothing would be officially announced until the team returns from their short trip to Dubai. The team is in Dubai to play England for two Tewnty20 matches.
The PCB has already approached Greg Chappell for the post but he has politely turned it down. The post of coaching in Pakistan is not quite a favorable one for foreigners due to an unstable administration as well as security concerns. Hence the board is looking for local options as well. The board is also considering Ijaz Ahmed who is presently in Dubai with the senior team as a fielding and batting trainer. Ahmed successfully took the country’s Under-19 team to a World Cup final.
Waqar reported to the media, “If offered I would love to take on the role of coach. Pakistan cricket remains my absolute passion and number one priority. I don’t want to do it on an appointment or short-term basis though. I’d like to have time to work with the boys, to really be able to plan ahead.” From March 2006 till January 2007, Waqar served as the bowling coach to the team and had grown quite popular with the bowlers like Naved-ul-Hasan and Umar Gul. “I enjoyed that stint when I was with (Bob) Woolmer, though I worked with limited resources then and in a limited role,” he further said. “It would make more sense to have a broader role and greater authority if I do work with the side again.”
The inquiry committee has called upon Intikhab, the assistant coach - Aaqib Javed and the team manager - Abdur Raquib to appear before them but surprisingly Waqar was not called upon by them. Even when the others were involved in the blame-game after the tour to Australia, Waqar choose to hand over his report quietly to the committee. “I said what I wanted to say in the report and gave it in” Waqar commented upon the matter. “I just want to help make things better and not point fingers at anyone in particular. We lost the series and my report says why I think we lost. I have given some suggestions as well. He further continued, “Pakistan plays best when they do with passion, like we used to when we were playing, that aggression and that Pakistani-ness. There was a lot of stuff happening off the field as well in those days, but when it came to matters on the field, we always had that hunger to just go out and play as well as we could for Pakistan.”