Waqar Younis dismisses resignation claims

Pakistan cricket head coach says everyone should stand with team to support them for the World T20

Pakistan cricket head coach Waqar Younis said on Friday that he never pondered over the option of resigning from national team duty.

“I never resigned nor am I planning to resign in the future,” Waqar told Express News, adding that he was not happy with media reports which claimed that he threatened the players to quit if they didn’t perform.



With Asia Cup and the World T20 due in the next few months, Waqar said everyone should stand with team to support them for the mega event.

While commenting on the New Zealand series, Waqar said that the team was not able to perform as planned because of the tough conditions.

“New Zealand is always tough,” he said. “We won the first T20I but we were not able to capitalise on the advantage and lost the other two matches.”



Pakistan lost the first ODI of the three-match series after New Zealand struck back from 99-6 and set a target of 281 for the visitors. Pakistan were only able to muster 210 runs in reply. The 44-year-old coach said they were not able to chase the target as the batsmen couldn't finish the game.

Earlier, an official travelling with the team revealed that Waqar together with the management has threatened to step down for the third time since the former right-arm pacer took over as the head coach.

“Ever since Waqar and his staff took over in 2014, this is the third time the management has threatened to step down,” the official told The Express Tribune.



He added that the threat, coupled with the recent demoralising losses, has led to a tense atmosphere in the dressing room.

“There is a sense of betrayal and lack of trust between the management and the players,” revealed the official. “As things stand now, it seems difficult for Pakistan to maintain harmony in the dressing room with events such as the Asia Cup T20 and the World T20 knocking at the doors.

“Waqar strongly feels that some of the players are not playing for Pakistan, and are instead only concentrating on cementing their place in the national side.”