"Afraid Of Foreigners...": Ex-Pakistan Star Takes Aim At Babar Azam's Team
Former Pakistan coach said that foreign coaches have also had a different position than their domestic counterparts.
Former Pakistan cricketer Sikandar Bakht made a massive comment on the presence of foreign coaches at the helm of the national side. Bakht, who represented the side in 26 Tests and 27 ODIs, was also the assistant coach of the team during the 2003 World Cup and he cited an example from his tenure to make a point that foreign coaches receive more importance than their domestic counterparts. He also had his say on Micky Arthur's appointment as the online coach for the Pakistan team and said that in his experience, the players are more in line with foreign coaches.
“I was with the Pakistan team as assistant coach from 2000-2003. The guy who was above me hadn't played a single ODI, but everyone listened to him. He was a South African but I cannot remember his name. Once, I tried to tell something to one of the players but he interrupted me, saying ‘I've played 40 Tests, you've played 26. Let me handle it'. He actually said that. Do you think any of these can tell anything to Babar, Shadab, Shaheen? If someone comes up and tells them anything, they will…” Bakht said during a discussion on the appointment of Arthur on Geo Super.
Bakht worked as a support staff for the Pakistan cricket team between 2000 and 2003 and his tenure came to an end shortly after the side was eliminated from the World Cup.
“Foreign coach ke saath ye log (players) sahi rehte hain. Vo angrez rehta hai toh ye log uss se darte hain (These players are kept in check when they are working with foreign coaches. Because he's a foreigner, they are scared of him),” Bakht told the anchors.
“You see, we had Javed Miandad, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, and Mohammad Yousuf as coaches. But no one could handle the players,” he concluded.
Pakistan Cricket Team