KARACHI, March 24: Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan on Saturday put his weight behind Aaqib Javed to replace the murdered Bob Woolmer and emphasized that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should not hire any foreign coach.

"I would appoint Aaqib Javed as the next Pakistan coach because he coached Pakistan's under-19 team which won the junior world cup twice," said Imran, who led Pakistan to their only World Cup title in 1992 in Australia.

Imran also suggested that the PCB should also appoint a batting coach and constitute a new fulltime selection committee.

He thought that after Inzamam-ul-Haq’s retirement, Younis Khan would be better choice to lead Pakistan in future outings because he had gained sufficient experience as Inzamam’s deputy.

Reaffirming his criticism of Pakistan’s failure to develop reliable opening pair Imran advocated that Yasir Hameed and Salman Butt should be given a chance to open for Pakistan and said their omission form the World Cup squad was a big mistake.

Asked whether he would accept the offer to head the PCB, Imran emphatically rejected the notion because he had other agenda of national importance.

Imran was shocked at Woolmer's murder said the killing of the national coach after Pakistan’s shocking defeat against Ireland in the World Cup’s preliminary round fixture was a big question mark. Referring to speculations of bookmakers’ involvement Imran said that it would not be prudent to speculate on the causes and wait for the police investigations.

He noted that in the recent years match-fixing phenomenon had declined considerably since the 1990s.

Imran reiterated his opposition to ad hocism and said that President should not have any role in appointing head of the PCB. He demanded that cricket affairs should be managed by an elected board of the PCB under a constitution and the associations must have their role in it.