ISLAMABAD: Former Australia captain and India coach Greg Chappell has turned down an offer to coach Pakistan.
“I was honored and flattered by the approach but I have declined the invitation,” Chappell told the website www.cricinfo.com on Wednesday.
“I have no ambition to coach at the international level again and I am committed to my role with Cricket Australia as Head Coach at the Center of Excellence and Chairman of our National Youth Selection Panel.”
Pakistan has named Ijaz Ahmed as coach in place of Intikhab Alam for two Twenty20 internationals against England in Dubai later this month.
Alam was appointed for two years in October 2008, but the Chappell approach indicated the Pakistan Cricket Board was seeking a new coach for series against England and Australia later this year.
Disturbing ‘one’
Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf says there is one player on the national team who is disturbing team unity, but stopped short of naming him.
“There’s no doubt that there’s only one player who is spoiling the atmosphere of the dressing room,” Yousuf told a talk show on GEO television Tuesday night.
Yousuf said he would reveal the name to Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt.
The player in question will be scrutinized as part of a PCB inquiry - headed by chief operating officer Wasim Bari - into how the team managed to lose every match in its Test and one-day tour of Australia.
The committee will start its working from Friday and will meet with coach Intikhab Alam, manager Abdul Raqeeb and Yousuf.
“I remember in one meeting in Australia we all three (coach, manager and captain) agreed that this player is disturbing the team unity,” Yousuf said.
Yousuf accepted the captaincy for the series against New Zealand and Australia after Younis Khan stepped down due to poor form when Pakistan lost a one-day series to New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates last year.
“I was made captain for the world’s toughest series against Australia,” Yousuf said.
“I don’t have natural leadership qualities in me but I have tried hard to do a good job.
“It is unfair to compare me with (Australia captain) Ricky Ponting as far as captaincy is concerned because he is far more experienced.” Yousuf said he was willing to continue lead the side, if the PCB asked him to do so.
“There should be a long term captain to overcome difficulties in the team,” Yousuf said.
“But if the PCB thinks there’s someone else to lead the side, I have no problems in playing under him.” Pakistan is scheduled to play its ‘home’ Test series against Australia in England where it will also compete against England in a four-Test series this summer.
Midway through the one-day series against Australia, Butt was reported to say that the board would look for a new captain, though he later denied issuing the statement.
“After the initial statement (of Butt) at least six or seven players started to see themselves as captain and suddenly there was a change in players’ attitude.”
Regional players
In another development, former Pakistan captain and wicketkeeper Rashid Latif has called for a quota system to boost the number of national team players from smaller cities.
“Pakistan is a big country of over 160 million people, but we mostly see players from Karachi and Lahore wearing the green cap,” Latif said on Wednesday.
“I know these (big) cities have thousands of talented players, but why are we neglecting rest of the country?” he said.
“The PCB can give Lahore and Karachi 70 percent of representation in the national team, but please look out for 30 percent from smaller cities.”
The top management of country’s cricket board is under severe scrutiny after Pakistan was whitewashed in both Test and one-day series on its tour of Australia.
“We have witnessed many captains and chairmen in the past ten years but the performance (of the national team) has not improved,” Latif said.
“Changing personalities will not solve the problem, we have to utilize talent in smaller cities.”
In the past 11 years, the Pakistan Cricket Board has had four chairmen and in just 12 months, the national team has had four captains across Test, one-day and Twenty20 internationals.
Latif, who played 37 Tests and 166 one-day internationals before retiring in 2003, runs a cricket academy in his hometown of Karachi which has produced Test players like Younis Khan, Asim Kamal, Khurram Manzoor and Khalid Latif.
Recently he opened another academy in Haripur — a small city in North West Frontier Province.
He also plans to open two other academies this year — in Multan (Punjab province) and Sukkur, a city of Sindh province.
Latif said the national team was being held back by a failure to reward the strong performances of regional players in domestic competition.
“If countries like South Africa and India can practice it, then why can’t we try it in Pakistan?” Latif said such quotas could be extended to apply to off-field positions too.
“The proposed methodology should not be confined to the players but should also be extended to the team officials,” Latif said.
“It would provide people from other parts of the country with an opportunity to serve and benefit the sport in Pakistan.”
