The cricket-related events over the past few months have indicated that Pakistan cricket will soon be witnessing fresh changes; the Pak cricket’s icon, Waqar Younis is all set to start a new phase with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Younis is expected to get into a position where he assumes exactly that, becoming the board’s cricketing director. This is a new milestone in the structure of Pakistan cricket Younis step by step offers his experience and comprehension of the game.
Waqar Younis Meeting with the PCB Chairman
On Monday, Younis had to sit with the PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi in Lahore over the finalities of the appointment. The two parties have not yet fully ratified the appointment mostly because a few matters have to be ironed out such as the specification of the position.
In the beginning, Younis will act with a consulting status offering recommendations to the chairman concerning cricket issues. However, the title and needs of the appointment may change if he is to become a permanent employee of the company. As such this role is expected to be similar to the role that Robert Key was holding at ECB as a managing director.
Responsibilities and Expectations
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi wants to appoint an ex-cricketer for ‘‘all cricketing issues whether it is selection, High-Performance, and Pathway’’ This way, Naqvi, who also doubles up as Pakistan’s Interior Minister, wants to look into administrative matters of the PCB while the technical issues remain with the likes of Younis.
This reorganization has been handed down consequent to the exit of the board chairman Ramiz Raja along with another key position of the chief executive officer that was once occupied by Faisal Hasnain.
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A Busy Season Ahead
Naqvi’s hastening to designate Younis can be well understood as the Pakistan men’s cricket team calendar is tight. The coming season is one of the most crammed years, and the team is to play a couple of tests in Bangladesh in August and three in England in October followed by the couple in South Africa in December and January.
The team, therefore, will be playing a series of tests with the West Indies, a one-day tri-series involving South Africa and New Zealand besides the 2025 champions trophy set to be held in Pakistan. This is a busy period as far as white-ball cricket is concerned; it will be rounded off by an eight-match white-ball series in New Zealand in March 2025.
Previous Stints and New Challenges
It will be paramount to focus on the fact that Waqar Younis’s coaching career was one with speed bumps, having achieved so much and also facing various inquiries. Bowling coach of the Pakistan cricket team from March 2006 to January 2007, he had problems with the PCB and skipper Inzamam ul Haq.
He was back as the bowling and fielding trainer during the Australia series in December 2009 and in March 2010 elevated to the position of the head coach of the Pakistan team. He led a relatively raw team to the preliminary of the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 where they were knocked out by mighty Australia in the last over this.
Highs and Lows:
In Waqar’s captaincy, Pakistan had its ups and downs, although more of the latter might have been due to the influence of either of these two leaders. In the Asia Cup 2010 matches, close shaves were witnessed with Sri Lanka and India; however, the team celebrated its win over Bangladesh with Afridi performing a century.
In the subsequent Test series tour of England, Pakistan was able to achieve a ‘comeback from behind’ win over Australia in a Test match for the first time in fifteen years as well as succumbing to the spot-fixing fiasco through being involved in banning some of their prominent players and they suffered a comprehensive defeat in the last Test match.
Nevertheless, a lot of problems were noticed in the playing strength of the Pakistan and Waqar’s team which had some fruitful performances including Abdul Razzaq’s thrilling knock of 109* off 72 balls in an ODI match against South Africa.
The Second Stint:
Waqar again became the head coach of the Pakistan cricket team from June 2014 to April 2016, Thus during their tenure, Pakistan performed mediocrely in the 2015 World Cup, where they won four of the six group-stage matches before a defeat from Australia in the Q-Finals. However internal conflicts and no action taken by the Pakistan Cricket Board and his several recommendations forced him to resign.
Waqar’s contribution to cricket did not stop at this point, but he kept on going by being part of several teams in leagues such as Sunrisers Hyderabad, Multan Sultans, and Sylhet Sixers as a coach. In the year 2019, he was appointed as Pakistan Bowling Coach for the fourth time pointing towards his long-lasting association with Pakistan cricket.
However, this new role shall accommodate a broad mandate among them being high performance and selection issues to do with Pakistan’s rising international obligation in terms of T20 players’ demand in the various leagues around the globe.
Conclusion
With Pakistan cricket about to go through a hard season, the importance of Younis’s position to chart courses for the team’s progress on various fronts cannot be overemphasized. His appointment marks the changes in the making towards having good cricketing brains along with strategic acumen to look after Pakistan’s cricketing prospects.
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