The last few years have marked a rapid decline in Pakistan cricket. The once giants of the game are now struggling miserably and barring their test record in Asia, all their efforts seem futile and worthless. 2016 has been no different for Pakistan, as their horrible T20 Asia Cup campaign was followed by a disastrous World T20, where they could manage to win only against Bangladesh.
After a humiliating exit in the World T20, Waqar Younis resigned as Pakistan’s coach and said that he was in the mood to become the PCB’s scapegoat. Younis also highlighted several points, which according to him, had ultimately led to the downfall of cricket in Pakistan. In his scathing criticism of the board, Waqar said that if the game was monitored in the same way, then cricket in Pakistan would slump even further.
Younis slammed the way in which the game was being administered in Pakistan and said, “I have said previously that people in a cricket board should be coming towards the team, towards the coaching staff. They should be coming towards us, to improve things, because they are for the cricket team, for the game. The cricket team is not for them. “Here we have a culture where cricket teams beg for things from the administrators. It should be the other way around and it needs to be changed on an immediate basis.”
The former Pakistan coach added that he didn’t get the desired liberty as the coach of the side. “I couldn’t do exactly what I wanted to. I’m always in support of the younger players coming through, indulging the younger players, but unfortunately, it did not happen. There were forces that didn’t allow me to do so. “Some people ask why didn’t I leave early but I have faith in the idea that to fixes the system, you have to stay in the system. I’ve tried to fix it, but it didn’t work.”
Waqar though, appreciated Misbah Ul Haq as a leader and said that his relationship with Pakistan’s test skipper was “excellent”. “My relationship with Misbah was excellent and we all know that. Because I think he has got a great temperament for cricket. When you sit with him, he can talk about cricket for hours. And I think when you are a captain, you need to absorb a lot of things from the coach.”