By CricketCountry Staff
Former pacer Sarfaraz Nawaz has called the appointment of Mohammad Akram as the bowling coach for the national team a 'joke’.
Published: Aug 30, 2012, 04:07 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 30, 2012, 04:07 PM (IST)
Sarfaraz Nawaz believes Mohammad Akram was appointed for the job of Pakistan’s bowling coach without even being called for the interview © AFP
By CricketCountry Staff
Islamabad: Aug 30, 2012
Former pacer Sarfaraz Nawaz has called the appointment of Mohammad Akram as the bowling coach for the national team a ‘joke’.
“It is a joke that a cricketer who was just a medium pacer of his time and lacks international experience was hired by the PCB as a bowling coach,” Nawaz was quoted as saying by Zee News.
Mohammad Akram was appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) l;ast week to replace Aaqib Javed as the new bowling coach.
Nawaz criticized Intikhab Alam and said that the latter never even met Akram and had little knowledge about him.
“Head of the coach finding committee Intikhab Alam never called Akram for the interview as he was referred by the highest official, even the PCB chief Zaka Ashraf also told the media that he has never met with Akram and did not have enough knowledge about him,” said Sarfaraz.
“It was Intikhab Alam who finalised the players for the central contracts in which the most deserving players were left out of the top three categories and blue eyed were amongst the top categories,” Sarfaraz added.
Nawaz believed that since Akram hailed from the Prime Minister’s hometown and enjoyed a good relation with him, he was given special favours by the PCB.
“The former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilan used to favour Shoaib Malik and now the present Prime Minister is showering benefits on Mohammad Akram. If the high officials want to run the cricket affairs then there is no need to appoint the chairman,” Sarfaraz claimed.
“Such officials are misdirecting the PCB chief that is resulting in poor performance both at administrative level as well as in the grounds while the latest example in this regard was the poor performance of Pakistan U-19 cricket team in the World Cup history,” he concluded.
