Waqar is the best choice for head coach:PCB

Lahore: The decision to appoint Waqar Younis was absolutely on merit, following a totally transparent procedure after duly scrutinizing all the candidates, said Intikhab Alam and Zaheer Abbas.

The two former skippers and undisputed greats of the game, Intikhab Aalam is presently PCB’s Director Domestic Cricket who was also member of the committee tasked to select coaches for the Pakistan team, while Zaheer Abbas is Principal Adviser to the Chairman PCB.

“The procedure is that we usually interview candidates about whom we have no or little information. But Mohsin’s case was different; he is quite familiar to us and we are aware of his strengths and weaknesses”, said Zaheer Abbas.

On Waqar Younis’s appointment, Zaheer said: “Waqar has regularly been associated with Pakistan cricket and commentating on the game as well. The PCB thought that Waqar Younis was better suited to take the team forward.”

Intikhab said: “We reviewed candidate applications as we received them and not in in bulk on the last day.”

On selection process, Intikhab stated: “For the position of Head Coach we took a lot of other factors into account. We looked at an applicant’s ability to be inclusive and take players along with him. After reviewing all seven applications on merit, we recommended Waqar Younis.”

Answering questions Intikhab said, “We are responding to the statements made by Mohsin Khan because he is a former player and we have immense respect for him, not just as former cricketers but as Pakistanis.”

Regarding Mohsin Khan taking the matter to a court, Intikhab said, “It is everyone’s right to take a matter to court, so if Mohsin wants to take it to court, it is his right but the PCB will not be taking this matter to court.”

Answering a question regarding the duration of contracts being offered, Intikhab said, “Whenever you advertise a job and you have national and international applicants, offering a two-year contract is fair, because it will take them some time to get used to the system.”

A salient point to note is that on the last three occasions when Mohsin applied for the coach’s position he did not land the job. This time round thus was not a one-off.