LAHORE: Former Test captain Waqar Younis, appointed adviser on cricket by the Pakistan Cricket Board just three weeks ago, has stepped down from his role and will now be among five team mentors in the forthcoming Champions Cup, which will now begin from Sept 12 instead of Sept 1.

Waqar’s appointment had attracted controversy, with him being announced adviser on cricket affairs at a press conference alongside PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, with the PCB advertising for the post a day later.

Mohsin had stated that as adviser, Waqar will appoint team mentors for the Champions Cup, which will have 60 players in each of the five teams, who will be selected on the basis of their performances over the last three years, and will be played across all formats.

However, a day after Pakistan slumped to defeat in the first Test against Bangladesh, Waqar has been relegated to being one of the team mentors alongside former Pakistan captains Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed and former off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq.

The PCB said in a news release on Monday that the appointments of the team mentors on a three-year contract was done “following a transparent and robust recruitment process”.

It remains unclear whether the PCB will look for someone else to fill the adviser’s post with Mohsin telling a news conference on Monday that “Waqar had done a good job in picking four mentors”.

“The PCB could not appoint Waqar as mentor immediately so he was appointed as adviser on cricket,” added Naqvi.

Sources told Dawn that Waqar was not comfortable with the domestic department as adviser on cricket affairs and he preferred to become a mentor.

‘VERY DISAPPOINTING’

Pakistan lost by 10 wickets to Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on Sunday and now need a face-saving victory in the second Test to draw the series.

Mohsin termed it “not disappointing but very disappointing”, adding that he would not comment on the “playing XI as it is the decision of the captain of the coach”.

“There were fingers raised on the pitch and I’ve asked for a report,” he added. “The selection committee handed over to the team management spinners, fast bowlers and batsmen and now it was the job of the coach and captain to pick the suitable players.”

Mohsin added that Pakistan cricket’s decline hadn’t been sudden. “We have to fix the things and I am sitting here to fix them and am hopeful the results will come.”

He denied his decisions — notably those regarding Waqar’s appointment and the shifting of the dates of the Champions Cup — had been inconsistent and said that the steps were being taken for the promised “major surgery” following Pakistan’s T20 World Cup debacle.

“Right now, there is no back-up for the national team and the Champions Cup in all the three formats would help the selectors to have more faces in front of them,” he added.

The Champions Cup One-Day Cup is slated to be held at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium, with the final to be played on Sept 29.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2024