Miandad urged to become batting coach
Pakistan Cricket Board is trying to convince former captain and batting great Javed Miandad to accompany the national team for the tours to West Indies and Zimbabwe, sources said on Tuesday.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: April 06, 2011 12:32 PM IST
Pakistan Cricket Board is trying to convince former captain and batting great Javed Miandad to accompany the national team for the tours to West Indies and Zimbabwe, sources said on Tuesday.
Miandad was picked as the man to work as permanent batting coach of Pakistan for the upcoming tours but the former captain has said he would not be able to accompany the team.
"I am always available for the national team but I will be able to devote full time to it after the Zimbabwe tour (in August). Even now I am ready to start working with the players in the camp but have some other obligations at the moment," Miandad, who have played 124 Tests, said. PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt and the Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi spoke to Miandad in a bid to convince him to take over as full time batting coach.
"I am honoured and thankful that Ijaz Butt and Shahid called me up and discussed the team with me and offered me the position of batting coach," Miandad said.
"Even now if the players want I can start working with them in the camp. But I will be able to devote full time later
only," he said.
Afridi had earlier said after meeting with the PCB chief that he had requested that Miandad be appointed as batting coach.
"When you have problems with any subject as a student you go to the best teacher in that particular subject and in batting I don't think there is a better person to work with our players than Javed bhai," Afridi said. Miandad, who is presently director-general cricket in the board, has also worked as batting consultant with the team before the New Zealand tour but had then also declined to accompany the team.
Afridi has expressed concerns over the batting problems afflicting Pakistan and said it was one of the reasons for the team's loss to arch-rivals India in the World Cup semifinal.
Sources said the board chairman and Afridi had got the consent of coach Waqar Younis before offering Miandad the batting coach's position.
"One reason why they are also looking at Miandad is because it is difficult to sign on a foreign batting coach in the existing security conditions in the country," one source said.