Younus refuses to lead Pakistan in Bangalore Test

BANGALORE: Star batsman Younus Khan has refused to lead Pakistan cricket team in the final Test, to be played in Bangalore from December 8.

According to daily Jang’s correspondent, Younus Khan’s refusal to captain the national team was his reaction against the management attitude during the second Test in Kolkata.

The team management is trying to contact PCB chief Dr. Nasim Ashraf and request him to persuade Younus Khan to lead the team in the final Test.

According to the Jang correspondent, there was also a controversy that Younus Khan wanted to call fast bowler Abdul Rauf for Bangalore Test but the management has called Rao Iftikhar from Pakistan by-passing Younus’s advice.

Younus Khan said that he did not take dictation and wanted to be a fully authorized captain in the match otherwise he would not lead the national team.

On the other hand, Muhammad Yousuf has also refused to assume captaincy and now it is likely that Misbah-ul-Haq may lead the team in Bangalore Test.

While on the otjer hand, Younis Khan, Pakistan's stand-in captain, has denied reports that he was reluctant to lead the side for the third Test against India in Bangalore due to differences over team selection.

"These reports are absolutely baseless. I am looking ahead to leading the side in Bangalore and there is no rift or disagreement among the players over anything,"

Younis told Dawn, a leading Pakistani English language daily.

"I myself have heard such rumours today but there is no truth in them at all."

Younis also issued a clarification regarding his column in the Hindustan Times, where he had dissociated himself from the team selection for the second Test in Kolkata.

"Then, I was hurried into the job on the morning of the Test and couldn't change anything at that stage,"

Younis said.

"That had really annoyed me but things have since been sorted out."

Pakistan's media manager, Ahsan Malik, said:

"There has been a lot of confusion here today about it, but believe me nothing of it is true."

Younis has had a unhappy tryst with the team's captaincy, having previously refused the captaincy; in the immediate aftermath of the Caribbean World Cup and given it up prior to the 2006 Champions Trophy, when he was supposed to stand in for Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was completing a four-match ban. In the latter case, he was reinstated by the incoming PCB chairman, Nasim Ashraf.

Younis was named vice-captain for the tour of India, after his predecessor, Salman Butt, struggled to keep his place in the team in the ODIs against South Africa. He captained Pakistan in the second Test after Shoaib Malik was ruled out due to an ankle injury, where he scored 43 and an unbeaten 107 to force a draw.

‘Coach’s appointment after consultation with captain, players’

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf has said that a new national coach would be appointed after consultation with Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and his senior teammates.

Ashraf said that top PCB officials would soon talk to several of the national team players especially Malik before finalising the name of Pakistan’s new coach. Pakistan are looking for a new coach following the death of Bob Woolmer in Kingston, Jamaica, during the World Cup in March.

Ashraf, who returned home from Chennai on Monday after attending a meeting of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), said that a committee appointed to help the Board over the appointment of a new coach has prepared a shortlist.

“We are considering a few coaches like Dav Whatmore and Steve Rixon and would appoint Pakistan’s new coach by July 1,”

he said. Ashraf said that he had ‘fruitful’ meetings with top officials of Indian, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi cricket boards in Chennai.

He added that the top bosses of the boards have confirmed their participation in a meeting of the 2011 World Cup Organising Committee to be hosted by Pakistan in Bhurban on June 17. The next World Cup would be jointly hosted by Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Voice of America on Monday, Ashraf came down hard on a couple of former Test cricketers for criticising the PCB’s decision to give an advertisement for the appointment of a new national coach. Former Pakistan captains Javed Miandad and Intikhab Alam termed the PCB’s decision as an ‘insult’ for them and decided against applying for the job.

“If those players feel insulted then they should never apply to PCB, it’s up to them,”

he said.

Pakistan not in a hurry to name new coach

KARACHI: Pakistan would take their time before appointing ‘the best available man’ as their national coach, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said on Friday.

“We are not in a hurry,”

Zakir Khan, PCB’s Director of Cricket Operations, told ‘The News’.

“Appointing a new national coach is a sensitive issue for us and we cannot decide about it in a hurry,”

he added.

Zakir, a former Test cricketer, said that the PCB would do its homework before picking ‘the best possible’ man for the assignment.

“The coach’s appointment would be among the most important decisions made by the Board and would come after detailed deliberations,”

he explained.

Zakir said that the committee given the task by the PCB to help select a new national coach would meet in Lahore early next week to shortlist candidates.

“The committee was supposed to meet yesterday but had to postpone the meeting because one of its members wasn’t available. It would now meet on Monday or Tuesday,”

said Zakir, who is a member of the committee that also includes Mudassar Nazar, Director of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and another former Test cricketer Imtiaz Ahmed.

Yesterday’s meeting could not be held because of Imtiaz’s unavailability.

Zakir rejected the impression that the committee has already shortlisted possible candidates.

“The committee would only meet for the first time next week so how can it shortlist candidates,”

he expressed.

He said that the committee would review the resumes of the 15 candidates, who have applied for the job, apart from a couple of more coaches including former Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore. The Australian, who is seen as a favourite for the Pakistan job, hasn’t formally applied for the job.

Zakir said Whatmore remains in contention for the job.

“You don’t need to have the CVs of top coaches like Whatmore or Greg Chappell. Their credentials are known to everybody,”

he added.

However, Zakir rejected reports that Whatmore has recently shown an interest in coaching Pakistan.

Miandad suggests ‘hands-off’ role for Nasim

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad believes Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf should keep a ‘hands-off’ role for himself and take steps to implement the Board’s new constitution as soon as possible, writes Khalid Hussain.

“The prevailing ad-hocism in the PCB is affecting our cricket like a virus and
this system has to be scrapped as soon as possible to save the game from a
complete disaster,”

Miandad told .

In a candid interview, Miandad spoke on various issues ranging from the PCB's ongoing drive to bring in ‘corporate culture’ in the Board to the proposed overhauling of the country’s domestic cricket structure.

Miandad, counted among Pakistan’s all-time greats, minced no words in rejecting claims by top Board officials that were promoting a corporate culture in the PCB as mere lip service, saying that people like Ashraf were barking under the wrong tree.

“I don’t know what corporate culture they are talking about. If having so many
directors with fat salaries in the Board is what corporate culture is all about
then I’m sorry to say that the PCB officials are going on a wrong path.”

Miandad said that the solution of most of Pakistan cricket’s problems would be the implementation of a new constitution.

“You cannot run cricket on an ad-hoc basis. A proper system can only come in
place if the PCB is run according to its constitution.”

He stressed that once a proper system is in place, a chairman would have a minimal role in routine PCB affairs. “Once you have the PCB constitution implemented, it would no more be a one-man show and the chairman will have no value. I strongly feel that it would be a boost for Pakistan cricket, if such a development does take place because right now it is going through a very sensitive phase.”

The former batting star pointed out that in the current set-up, even the PCB top officials didn’t know for how long they would last.

“Even Nasim Ashraf doesn’t know about the length of his own tenure. This is the
kind of uncertainty that prevails in Pakistan cricket.”

Miandad, who played 124 Tests and 233 ODIs for Pakistan in an illustrious career that spanned over twenty years, said that when he started playing for Pakistan more than thirty years back, the Board was run by a small team of honorary officials and did a ‘much better job’ than today’s PCB that spends tens of millions of rupees on the monthly salaries of its employees.

“If today the Board has billions of rupees in its bank account, it doesn’t mean that they have the right to waste precious funds. Even today there are millions of youngsters in our country who can’t even afford to buy cricket bats and balls. The PCB funds should be spent on those youths.”

Rixon considered for Pakistan role

Steve Rixon, the former Australia wicketkeeper, has been sounded out as a potential coach of Pakistan. However, Rixon said the unexplained death of Bob Woolmer had left him in doubt whether he wanted the job and he has not officially applied.

Pakistan's board was reportedly impressed by Rixon's successful stretch as New Zealand's coach from 1996 to 1999, and specifically his work with the captain Stephen Fleming. Rixon said whether he put in for the Pakistan position might depend on what police uncovered about Woolmer's death in Jamaica at the World Cup.

"They [Pakistan] have made contact with me, I have spoken to them,"

Rixon told .

"I haven't indicated whether I'm interested yet. I'm finding it extremely hard
to get over the fact Bob Woolmer is no longer with us, to be honest. I'd never
say never, but I'll be interested in the results of the inquiry."

As well as Pakistan, there are still senior coaching vacancies in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Without naming specific nations, Rixon confirmed he had

"spoken to a few different countries"

but had not committed to applying for any of the roles.

Rixon, who is based in Sydney, said coaching on the subcontinent would be a very different challenge, if he chose to pursue it.

"It's something that's not grabbing me and saying 'you've got to come and do
it',"

Rixon said of a potential move to Asia.

"But who knows? This interest might be the spark that gets me there."

Rixon spent two years at the helm of Surrey from 2004-05 and has also had two separate stints as the coach of New South Wales. He hoped to return to the international ranks as John Buchanan's replacement this year, although Australia instead chose Tim Nielsen.

Fielding would play key role in Abu Dhabi series: Malik

LAHORE: Captain of Pakistan cricket team Shoaib Malik said that all players are completely fit with high morale.

Addressing a news conference here on Wednesday at the end of training camp held at Gaddafi Stadium, Shoaib said that team would give its best possible performance against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi series whereas fielding would play a key role in the series..

Absence of coach had created some problems at the start of the camp but with the cooperation of senior players, Manager Talat Ali supervised the camp in a professional manner. Waism Akram’s tips benefited players during the camp, he added.

Pakistan team Manager Talat Ali said that players including Vice Captain Muhammad Asif are completely fit. He termed the upcoming series as important one for Pakistan.

During the camp, players put extra efforts in fielding and fitness departments and team would display better performance in these two departments, he added.

'I am not nervous at all' - Shoaib Malik

Shoaib Malik, Pakistan captain, denied he would be nervous as he tries to rebuild his beleaguered side after a disastrous World Cup.

Malik spoke ahead of Pakistan's departure on Wednesday night for Abu Dhabi for a three-match one-day international series against Sri Lanka.

"I am not nervous at all,"

Malik said. "I know the season ahead is difficult but I will live up to the confidence placed in me by the Pakistan Cricket Board and the fans. I am confident that all the players will work hard to put the team back on a winning track and forget what happened in the World Cup," added Malik, who has played 18 Tests and 137 one-dayers.

The games against Sri Lanka on May 18, 20 and 22 are Pakistan's first assignment since crashing out in the first round of the World Cup in March after losing to minnows Ireland. Coach Bob Woolmer was also found dead at the team hotel in Jamaica the day after the defeat.

Jamaican police insist he was murdered despite reports that Woolmer died of a heart attack. Pakistan's humiliating exit forced burly Inzamam-ul-Haq to relinquish the captaincy and quit one-day cricket. Malik replaced Inzamam as captain after senior player Younis Khan refused to take over.

Pakistan have yet to find a replacement for Woolmer and manager Talat Ali, a former Test opener, will supervise the coaching during the Abu Dhabi series. The 25-year-old Malik said Pakistan, the 1992 World Cup champions, were determined to forget the last edition of the tournament.

"Whatever happened in the past is now past and the best thing about this current
team is that all the senior players are very co-operative and once we win the
morale of the team will go up,"

he said.

Malik admitted that Pakistan would have to be on top form to win against Sri Lanka, who lost to Australia in a farcical World Cup final.

"Sri Lanka are a formidable team and even without [Muthiah] Muralitharan,
[Chaminda] Vaas and [Kumar] Sangakkara [all not in Sri Lanka team due to their
county commitments] we will have to be at our best to beat them,"

he said. Pakistan would also be tested by their rigorous coming season, he said.

"We have a tough season ahead in which we face South Africa, India and Australia
so we must shape up quickly and all the players are experienced and know what it
takes to become world's best side,"

said Malik.

Pakistan feature in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September before hosting South Africa in October. They tour India in November-December and then host Australia early next year.