LAHORE: In a significant development, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Raza Naqvi has decided to hire fast bowling great Waqar Younis for an important advisory position.

Well-informed sources told Dawn that Mohsin, who is also the federal interior minister, held a meeting with former Pakistan captain Waqar in Lahore on Monday. It emerged that Waqar, a veteran of 87 Tests and 262 ODIs, is most likely to get the post of Adviser to Chairman on Cricketing Affairs, a newly-introduced post in the PCB.

According to the details, Waqar, who has worked in different coaching roles for Pakistan thrice (2007-08, 2010 and 2019), will be given significant powers to manage the cricketing affairs including those concerning national selection committee, red and white-ball coaches domestic and international competitions.

If the 52-year-old Waqar gets the position, it will help Mohsin give proper time to the interior ministry and get rid of any criticism in case the Pakistan team fail to deliver, something which the PCB has been facing for the last two years.

A poor performance produced by Pakistan in the 50-over ICC World Cup staged in India late last year followed by an absolutely pathetic show by the country in the ICC T20 World Cup held in the US and West Indies earlier this year and a string of failures by the national women’s team have signifies the unwanted state of affairs faced by Pakistan cricket in recent times.

After becoming the interior minister, Mohsin remained under fire for giving less time to the PCB and endured criticism amid poor performances by national men’s and women’s teams.

Last time, former Pakistan captain Waqar operated as the national team’s bowling coach along with Misbah-ul-Haq, who was the head coach. Both were appointed when then PCB chairman Ehsan Mani did not extend the period of head coach Mickey Arthur under whose coaching Sarfraz Ahmed-led Pakistan won the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in England, beating India in the final.

There were media reports that Mani, first promised Arthur to extend his coaching period but later brought in Misbah who got three roles — of head coach, chief selector and batting coach.

However, both Misbah and Waqar stepped down abruptly soon after Ramiz Raja was appointed as PCB chairman in place of Mani in September 2021, while at that time, the New Zealand team had reached Pakistan for a white-ball series. The series was postponed at the eleventh hour when the tourists expressed security fears and returned to their country.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2024