Speaking exclusively to PakPassion.net from Lahore, Sohail blasted the Pakistan Cricket Board for appointing Intikhab Alam to head the committee that is responsible for identifying the next coach of Pakistan.

by Saj Sadiq (21st Dec 2011)

Former opening batsman and Pakistan Cricket Board's Director-Game Development Aamir Sohail launched a scathing attack on former captain and World Cup winning coach Intikhab Alam, labelling him as not being qualified to identify the next coach of Pakistan.

Sohail who represented Pakistan on more than 200 occasions has been a frequent critic of the Pakistan Cricket Board particularly during the tenure of previous incumbent Ijaz Butt. Sohail worked under Chairman Ijaz Butt, before resigning in July 2009 due to what he cited as a lack of job satisfaction. 

Speaking exclusively to PakPassion.net from Lahore, Sohail blasted the Pakistan Cricket Board for appointing Intikhab Alam to head the committee that is responsible for identifying the next coach of Pakistan. The committee was formed following Waqar Younis' resignation prior to the team's departure for Zimbabwe, due to health reasons.

"The individual who is responsible for the extremely important task of identifying the next coach of the national team and recommending him to the chairman should be someone who knows the job themselves and that is certainly not Intikhab" stated Sohail.

Sohail continued, "For the PCB hierarchy to put Intikhab in charge of recommending the next coach of Pakistan to the chairman is absolutely scandalous. He (Intikhab) has no idea of what the requirements are and what the necessary skills are for a modern day coach to get the best out of the current group of Pakistani cricketers and is not qualified to be chairing the committee."

Alam was appointed as the chairman of the four-man committee that includes Zaheer Abbas, Naushad Ali with Rameez Raja also available for assistance. Alam has been quoted as favouring a foreign coach to take over the role on a permanent basis, but Sohail feels that Alam's input will largely be irrelevant due to his lack of awareness of the role of a modern day coach.

"What technical expertise does Intikhab have regarding modern day coaching? What does he know about bio-mechanics, what does he know about the flaws in some of the current Pakistani batsmen? Is Intikhab going to actually interview the candidates and if so what is he going to ask them about cricket coaching? If he is not going to interview the leading candidates then what criteria is he going to use to make his recommendations to the chairman? I am really intrigued, is he just going to go by what is written on the CV's of the applicants" stated Sohail.

In a final dig at Alam who was Sohail's coach in the 1992 World Cup winning team inspired by skipper Imran Khan, Sohail quipped, "I believe Intikhab has invited applications for the various roles that are currently available. I would like to know if he has completed any job applications himself to land some of the roles that he has miraculously found himself in at the Pakistan Cricket Board."

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday announced that interim coach Mohsin Khan and his current backroom staff would continue in their roles for the upcoming series against England and that permanent appointments would be made only after the completion of this series in February.