Former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq has turned down PCB’s offer to become full-time head coach for Pakistan. The 45-year old conveyed his decision to the PCB that he would be unavailable to take the role citing personal commitments.
Saqlain Mushtaq was appointed in the interim role as head coach when Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis resigned from their coaching roles right before the T20 World Cup. PCB also appointed Matthew Hayden and Vernon Philander as batting and bowling consultants respectively. Pakistan performed well under him as they won all 5 games in the group stage in T20 World Cup before losing to Australia in the semifinal.
He did some stints as a spin bowling consultant with England, New Zealand, and West Indies previously.
Later Pakistan clean swept both T20I and Test series in the Bangladesh tour with margins of 3-0 and 2-0. Also in the home series against West Indies, Babar Azam & Co. whitewashed them by the margin of 3-0.
“Saqlain told the chairman that while he was happy to have contributed as interim head coach he wouldn’t be able to accept a long-term and permanent assignment as head coach as he had prior business and personal commitments,” A PCB source told Indian Express.
“Saqlain conveyed that already his business has been affected due to his absence with the Pakistan team as interim head coach,” The source added.
However, he would be available for short-term assignments and also continued to work as a coach at the High-Performance Centre in Lahore, the source further added.
Saqlain Mushtaq advised PCB to go for a foreign coach
Earlier PCB’s chairman Ramiz Raja said that he consulted with Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Saqlain Mushtaq as they all are on the same page that Pakistan would be benefitted from a foreign coach.
Pakistan Cricket Board has already advertised for five coaching roles- batting coach, bowling coach, fielding coach, power-hitting coach, and High-performance coach.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be the home series against Australia as they will travel to the country for the first time since 1998. The tour consists of 3 Tests, 3 ODIs, and one T20I in March-April 2022.
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